By Debbie Ross-Preston, for Peninsula Daily News
NEAH BAY — “I want to be an astronaut!” Carson Tholt, 12, told former astronaut John Herrington, the first Native American in space.
“That’s great!” said Herrington.
“Math and science will get you there.”
Carson is a Makah tribal member.
His desire to be one of the few who have traveled to space is the kind of flame Herrington wants to fan in all youth, especially tribal boys and girls, across the country.
To do that, the former NASA astronaut and Navy test pilot — and member of Oklahoma’s Chickasaw tribe — is bicycling across the nation.
After beginning in Neah Bay and Cape Flattery on Wednesday, he will wind his way to Cape Canaveral, Fla., on a 4,000-mile journey expected to take about three months.
The bike trip will include many stops on Indian reservations.
Herrington, 49, was a member of the Endeavour Space Shuttle team that spent two weeks at the International Space Station in 2002.
It was a flight that included nearly 20 hours of space walks for Herrington as a mission specialist.
Now he is honoring his tribal heritage and encouraging students to study science, math, engineering and technology to achieve their dreams.
Herrington’s progress can be tracked via his Web site, www.rocketrek.com.
Herrington’s bike is equipped with a laptop, broadband phone, GPS and digital camera. He is making daily entries to a blog at his Web site and is charting his progress.
“I was rarely No. 1 in anything,” Herrington told a roomful of Makah students and community members on Tuesday.
“But along the way, I had mentors who guided my talents and told me I could do things I didn’t think I could do.
