Dorreen Yellow Bird, a Native reporter for The Grand Forks Herald, interviews John Herrington, a member of the Chickasaw Nation and former astronaut.

Herrington was a member of the Space Shuttle Endeavour expedition. He went into space for two weeks in November-December 2002.

"First, being in space gives you a sense of how small you are in the great scheme of things. Second, this is an absolutely beautiful planet, and when you see it from that perspective, it is clearly wonderful," he tells Yellow Bird.

Herrington believes there is life in outer space although he hasn't seen any aliens so far. "Scientists have found planets around other stars, so what's the possibility that somewhere out there in the billions and billions of stars, there isn't a planet with the elements with which life could exist?" he says.

Get the Story:
PRAIRIE VOICES: Rocket man (The Grand Forks Herald 4/16)

Relevant Links:
John Herrington Bio - http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/herringt.html
Space Shuttle Endeavour - http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/archives/sts-113

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