The Stafford Air & Space Museum is proud to announce the appearance of Oklahoma Astronaut John B. Herrington – the first Native American to fly in space – as our next guest in our acclaimed speaker's series "Stories at the Stafford." The event will be held at the Stafford Museum on Saturday, November 22, 2014 at 7 p.m.
Everyone is invited to attend this presentation. Members of the Stafford Air and Space Museum have free admission and non-members are $7.00 each. SWOSU students and all students 18 and under are $2.00.
Commander Herrington will speak to museum members and guests inside the Apollo Conference Room at the Stafford Museum about his historic mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
Cmdr. Herrington flew onboard the Space Shuttle Endeavor in November 2002, as a Mission Specialist. During this mission, Herrington performed three spacewalks totaling over 19 hours. Herrington became the first enrolled member of a Native American tribe to fly in space on this mission.
After his successful mission to the ISS in 2002, Herrington then served as support to the ISS training efforts in the United States and Russia. He then became a member of the Extravehicular Activities (EVA) Branch supporting Russian and US EVA hardware and operations. His last assignment with NASA was being selected as the Chief Engineer for Safety and Mission Assurance at the Johnson Space Center.
In 2005, Herrington retired from the US Navy and NASA and began a career in the commercial space industry. He currently serves as an ambassador for the Chickasaw Nation and as Chairman of the Board for the American Indian Institute for Innovation. He is also pursuing a PhD in Education.
"We are very excited to welcome Cmdr. Herrington to the museum," said Museum Marketing Coordinator, Brandi Rizzi. "Cmdr. Herrington is one of eight Oklahoma astronauts and is the first Native American to fly in space and so we encourage everyone to come out and meet him at the museum."
Cmdr. Herrington will give a presentation on his historic mission to the ISS, and will then have a Q&A with the guests.