Visit the USGS Home Page Go to the Astrogeology Research Program Home Page USGS Astrogeology Research Program

First Native American to Walk in Space

On November 11, the first tribally registered Native American astronaut will lift off into space aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour from NASA's Kennedy Space Center for the 16th American assembly flight to the International Space Station. During the mission, Astronaut John Bennett Herrington (Cmdr., USN), a member of the Chickasaw Nation, will become the first Native American to walk in space. Serving as Endeavour's flight engineer for launch and landing, Herrington will be one of two astronauts conducting three spacewalks to install a 45-foot, 14-ton girder-like structure, called the Port 1 to the Station. Once the remainder of the truss is complete, the structure will span more than 300 feet to carry power, data and temperature control to the electronic outpost of the Station.

More: NASA - John Herrington, First Native American to Walk in Space

More: NASA Biography - John Bennett Herrington

Entry posted by HotTopics on Friday, November 8, 2002 at 12:00. Filed under Manned Missions. The author does not allow comments to this entry.