‘An Awe-Inspiring Moment’ Aloft for Native American Astronaut
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The first Native American astronaut said Wednesday that he is inspired and humbled to be flying -- and walking -- in space.
John Herrington, a member of the Chickasaw Nation, helped install a $390-million girder on the international space station Tuesday during a seven-hour spacewalk.
“It was an awe-inspiring moment to be able to go out of the hatch and to see the Earth’s horizon and see the space station against that,” he said in an interview.
When asked by the Chickasaw Times how his perspective on Thanksgiving would be affected by going out on a second spacewalk today, Herrington replied with a laugh: “I’ll be really hungry when I come back in.”
The 44-year-old Navy commander became the first Native American in space with the shuttle Endeavour’s weekend launch.
The governor of the Chickasaw Nation in Ada, Okla., Bill Anoatubby, called to wish Herrington well on the mission.
NASA’s space station program manager, Bill Gerstenmaier, said Wednesday that the three computers and all the other systems inside the newly installed girder were working fine. Gerstenmaier said everything remains on track for next year’s station construction work.
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