John Herrington: Movies & Box Office

John Bennett Herrington (born September 14, 1958) is a retired United States Naval Aviator, engineer, and former NASA astronaut who made history in 2002 as the first enrolled citizen of a Native American tribe to fly in space. Born in Wetumka, Oklahoma, into the Chickasaw Nation, Herrington grew up across multiple states, including Colorado Springs, Colorado; Riverton, Wyoming; and Plano, Texas, where he graduated from Plano Senior High School. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in applied mathematics from the University of Colorado Colorado Springs before receiving his commission in the United States Navy in 1984. In honor of his Chickasaw heritage, Herrington took the Chickasaw Nation flag with him on his thirteen-day space mission, a flag presented to him by Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby. He later pursued higher education, completing a Master of Science degree in aeronautical engineering at the United States Naval Postgraduate School in June 1995, and ultimately earning a PhD in education from the University of Idaho in 2014. Herrington's career spans an impressive range of accomplishments in military service and space exploration. After completing flight training, he became a Naval Aviator in March 1985 and flew P-3C Orion aircraft on operational deployments across the Northern and Western Pacific. Selected by NASA in April 1996, he qualified as a mission specialist and flew aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour during the STS-113 mission from November 23 to December 7, 2002. During this mission, he delivered the P1 Truss segment to the International Space Station and performed three spacewalks totaling 19 hours and 55 minutes, feats commemorated on the reverse of the 2019 Sacagawea dollar coin. He also commanded the NEEMO 6 underwater laboratory mission in July 2004 before retiring from the Navy and NASA in July 2005. Following his retirement, Herrington served as Vice President and Director of Flight Operations for Rocketplane Limited, Inc., authored the children's book Mission to Space in 2016, and completed a cross-country bicycle ride in 2008. He was inducted into the Chickasaw Hall of Fame in 2002, the International Air & Space Hall of Fame in 2017, and the National Native American Hall of Fame in 2018, and continues to lecture nationwide as an inspirational speaker.