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Former astronaut John Herrington to head Tulsa's bid for retired space shuttle
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The Tulsa Air and Space Museum and Planetarium has turned to home-grown space experience in its bid to obtain one of America's space shuttles after their retirement. Today, museum director Jim Bridenstine announced that Herrington will chair a committee working on landing a shuttle in Oklahoma.
Herrington, NASA's first federally-registered Native American astronaut, is a member of the Chickasaw Nation. Born in Wetumka, Herrington flew on STS-113, a 2002 mission to the International Space Station.
Herrington logged over over 330 hours in space, including 3 space walks totaling 19 hours and 55 minutes. A military test pilot, he retired from the Navy with the rank of Commander in 2005, the same year he left the astronaut corps.
Herrington also served as commander of NASA's NEEMO 6 aquatic mission in 2004. The Florida-based Aquarius under-water facility, which serves as an analogu to space station living, houses teams who help study the effects of extreme environment habitation.
The selection of Herrington to head up the shuttle acquisition efforts is a natural, Bridenstine said. Oklahoma has produced more astronauts than any other state. Oklahoma also has provided manufacturing of the space station's key structrual trusses. The Saturn rockets that sent Americans to the moon were Oklahoma-built.
Herrington also undertook a personal journey: a 4,000-mile bicycle ride across America from Flattery, Washington, to Cape Canaveral, Fl to support and encourage students and education. A Sequoyah Fellow of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society, Herriington volunteers in many educational outreach initiatives.
If the Tulsa museum is selected to house one of the shuttles, officials say that they will add a 400,00 square foot addition to the facility. Under consideration: a glass building to make the shuttle totally visible from 360 degrees.
The shuttle Discovery is already promised to the Smithsonian, leaving Endeavour and Atlantis as part of the national museum space race. So far, about 20 sites are being considered for shuttle retirement.
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