John B. Herrington

Commander John B. Herrington is a retired Naval Aviator, test pilot, aquanaut and astronaut. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Mathematics from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, a Master of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School and a PhD in Education from the University of Idaho.

As an aviator, he has flown over 5000 hours in more than 30 different types of aircraft. As an aquanaut, he commanded the sixth NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) mission, spending nearly 264 hours underwater.

As an enrolled citizen of the Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma, NASA considers Cdr. Herrington to be the first citizen of a Federally recognized tribe to fly in space. As an astronaut, Cdr. Herrington flew aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour on the 16th assembly mission to the International Space Station. During his mission he traveled over 5.6 million miles, accumulating over 330 hours in space, including performing three spacewalks totaling nearly 21 hours.

Following his retirement from the Navy and NASA, CDR Herrington worked in the commercial space sector before embarking on a 4,300-mile bicycle ride across the United States, from Cape Flattery, WA to Cape Canaveral FL, stopping at Indian reservations and NASA Explorer Schools to share his story of motivation and mentorship with Native American youth. At age 52, he entered the University of Idaho and earned a Doctorate in Education, investigating the factors that motivate and engage Native American students to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

He authored a children’s book, Mission to Space and is currently working on his personal memoir. He is married and the proud father to two daughters and grandfather to four grandchildren. He resides in the mountains of Northwestern Montana with his wife Danielle, their sled dog Emme and calico cat Ladybug.