4 NASA Astronauts with Deep Ties to Montana’s Big Sky

Space has always felt so far away to me. It's one of those things that seems almost impossible to picture until you hear a story that makes it feel real.

When my father-in-law was a little boy, he got to meet John Glenn. He still talks about it to this day, and I completely understand why. Meeting someone who had actually been to space, someone whose name he learned about in school and has since seen in history books, had to feel like meeting a real-life superhero.

That is why I was curious when retired astronaut John Herrington recently visited Montana campuses and found myself wondering how many astronauts actually have ties to Montana.

My father-in-law, the boy to the left, and John Glenn

The answer is four. One was born here. One now calls Montana home. One spent his later years in the Billings area. And another lived in Livingston before joining NASA.

Loren Acton Was Born in Lewistown

Loren Acton is the only astronaut born in Montana. He was born in Lewistown and later earned his degree from Montana State University.

Acton was a physicist and served as a payload specialist aboard Space Shuttle Challenger during the 1985 STS-51-F mission. The mission spent nearly eight days in space and included scientific work through Spacelab 2, a research laboratory carried inside the shuttle.

NASA lists Acton among the crew members on the mission, which was the 19th flight of the Space Shuttle program. STS-51-F launched on July 29, 1985, and landed on August 6.

For a state known for its wide-open skies, it is pretty amazing to know that a kid born in Lewistown eventually got to see Earth from the other side of them.

John Herrington Now Calls Montana Home

John Herrington was not born in Montana. He was born in Oklahoma, but he now lives in northwestern Montana near Kalispell with his wife.

Herrington made history in 2002 as the first enrolled member of a federally recognized Native American tribe to travel to space. A citizen of the Chickasaw Nation, he flew aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour on mission STS-113 and completed three spacewalks.

NASA says Herrington carried the Chickasaw Nation flag with him on his 13-day mission. That detail makes his accomplishment feel even bigger.

Herrington recently spoke at Blackfeet Community College and Montana State University as part of Astronauts for America, a nonpartisan group encouraging young people to register and vote.

Frank Borman Spent His Final Years in Montana

Then there's Frank Borman, whose Montana connection is especially remarkable.

Borman commanded Apollo 8 in 1968, the first crewed mission to travel to and orbit the Moon. He and fellow astronauts Jim Lovell and William Anders were the first humans to see the far side of the Moon and to witness Earth from lunar orbit.

After his NASA career, Borman bought a cattle ranch in the Bighorn Mountains near Custer and later lived in Billings. He died in Billings in November 2023 at age 95. NASA remembered Borman as the commander of humanity’s first mission around the moon.

Just think about that for a second. One of the first people to circle the moon spent his later years right here in Montana.

Christina Koch Lived in Livingston Before NASA

Christina Koch is another astronaut with a Montana connection. She wasn't born here, but she was a Livingston resident before NASA selected her as an astronaut in 2013.

Koch went on to make history during her first mission, setting the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman with 328 days in space. She also took part in the first all-female spacewalk.

In 2026, Koch served as a mission specialist on Artemis II, becoming the first woman to travel around the moon. NASA’s biography of Koch details her record-setting time in space and her work on the Artemis mission.

It is pretty incredible to think that before all of that, before the record-setting mission and the trip around the moon, she had a chapter of her life right here in Livingston.

Montana’s Connection to Space Is Bigger Than You Might Think

Montana has one native-born astronaut, one retired astronaut who chose to make the state home, an Apollo legend who lived in the Billings area, and a former Livingston resident who has now traveled around the moon.

Four may not seem like a huge number, but these are four extraordinary stories. One started in Lewistown and flew aboard Challenger. One made history for Native Americans in space and now lives under Montana’s big sky. One helped lead the mission that proved people could make it to the moon and back. And one lived in Livingston before making history herself.

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Maybe that is why my father-in-law’s memory of meeting John Glenn is still so special all these years later. Space can feel enormous and distant, but then you remember the people who have gone there are real. Some were born under a Montana sky. Some chose to make their home here. And every once in a while, a little kid gets to meet one and carries that moment with him for the rest of his life.

That is a pretty incredible connection to have.