3 years ago
In the late 1970s, he failed several classes, dropped out of school and spent his days hanging off the side of a mountain making $4 an hour.
John Herrington recalled those times. "All I wanted to do was rock climbing. I just wasn't focused on studying," he said. "But one day my boss sat me down and told me if I wanted to make enough money to support a family, I needed to do go back to school and learn to do something else."
Herrington told students at Edward Harris, Jr. Middle School in Elk Grove that 15-minute conversation helped make him what he is today.
He's the only Native American who has ever blasted off into space.
"As a matter of fact, I was walking in space five years ago today," he said at a student assembly. It was one of three spacewalks that Herrington made with a fellow astronaut to repair the International Space Station.
"I could push 500 pounds with one finger. Then I hung off with one hand and looked down at the Earth. You see the earth from ear to ear and you see the sun and how thin the Earth's atmosphere is and it's actually remarkable," Herrington said.
The students were eager to meet Herrington because their school is one of 25 schools nationwide designated as a NASA Explorer school. For the next three years NASA will pay the costs of developing a strong engineering, science and math curriculum.
NASA is already having videoconference classes where scientists do experiments with teachers at 10 NASA locations, including Pasadena's Jet Propulsion Lab.
NASA hopes the program will produce the scientists, engineers and technicians needed for future space projects. Keyavonni Thompson, an Edward Harris 7th grader, said she's already thinking about it.
"I want to be the first person on Mars," Thompson said. "That's going to be hard, I know, but whatever it takes, I can do it."
Students who had lunch with Herrington got a chance to taste what astronauts eat in space. Bananas and ice cream were among the offerings. All of it is freeze-dried.
Eighth grader Roni Clegg tried chocolate mint chip flavored ice cream and declared, "It melted in my mouth. It felt weird, too. The texture was interesting."
Herrington hopes by providing students with an opportunity to experience a little of what space exploration is like, kids will realize it's possible they can go where few have gone before.
"If we can motivate them by saying this is what the experience is like, maybe we can motivate them to take a path that they didn't think about before," he said.
News10/KXTV
