NASA astronaut John Herrington stopped on his 4,000-mile bike ride to speak at the Native American Student Center at the University of Idaho.

Herrington, a member of the Chickasaw nation, is riding a bicycle 4,000 miles from Cape Flattery, Wash., to Cape Canaveral, Fla., with stops at schools along the way. He uploads his route onto his blog, where he asks a math or science question at the end of every day.

“My goal is for kids to go out and be curious,” Herrington said.

Herrington doesn’t ask for answers to the questions he asks in his blog, but points out that he is showing a practical application of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math to kids.

Due to lack of motivation, Herrington dropped out of college. While working as a mountain climber for a survey crew, he realized how all the math that he had learned in school was applicable to real life. He was inspired to return to school and complete a degree in applied mathematics from the University of Colorado in 1983.

Herrington then joined the Navy for 22 years, where he became a test pilot and attended the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, graduating with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering in 1995. He was accepted into the NASA program in 1996.

“I grew up around the time of the Apollo program and always dreamed of going to space,” Herrington said.
Herrington became the first American Indian in space when he accepted a job as a Mission Specialist to the International Space Station on the STS-113 Endeavour in 2002. He retired from NASA in 2005.

“I was looking for something challenging to do, and I wanted to help teachers show their students how math and science is applicable in the real world,” Herrington said. “I figured they might listen to an astronaut.”

The Native American Tribal Liaison, Arthur Taylor, invited Herrington to campus. Herrington’s visit to the NASC was put together in about two weeks as Taylor had heard from the Nez Perce tribal staff that Herrington was planning to stop in Lapwai, Idaho.

“I saw it as an opportunity to educate the campus on his accomplishments and partner together to enhance opportunities for native students in the STEM fields,” Taylor said.

Taylor is not the only one who wants to create opportunities for American Indian students. Herrington has plans to start a prep school for American Indian students located in South Dakota. The school would focus on the STEM fields and bring in students starting in the eighth grade.

“I want to avoid a reference to boarding schools, because that’s not what it is .I want to bring kids in for an opportunity to reach their potential,” Herrington said.

Herrington is teaming up with Stacy Phelps, who started the Gear-up program in South Dakota. Gear-up is an Upward Bound Program in the College of Mines for American Indian Students and has 16 years of success with the students.

“He has pride in his heritage and wants to give Native children an example and encouragement to dream their own future,” Taylor said.
Herrington’s bicycle route travels through Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. There are scheduled stops in each state to encourage students to reach their potential.

Herrington started his ride on Aug. 13, took seven days to cross the state of Washington and plans to get to Florida in about three months.

“I plan on going to Disneyland for a conference and seeing NASA when I finish my trek across the country,” Herrington said.

For information on Herrington and his 4,000-mile trek across the country, visit his Web site at www.rocketrek.com.

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