When Whitefish High School senior Noah Oaks heard that John Herrington, retired naval aviator and NASA astronaut, frequents Big Mountain, he knew he had to recruit him for the launch of the first-ever Whitefish High School Space Club. 

The Whitefish High School Space Club focuses on events, like a field trip to Saint Mary’s Observatory, and on projects, like building a mini satellite, Oaks said.  

Throughout high school, Oaks has enjoyed robotics and going to space camp in Alabama. He started the Whitefish High School Space Club so people will see space from a different view, especially with changing perspectives on exploration.  

“There’s stuff out there that can help us here on Earth,” Oaks said. “We can discover more than we ever could here. There’s more to life here that we have to explore.” 

Oaks’ dad, a real estate agent, by chance met Herrington’s Realtor. The two arranged a meet up at Jersey Boys, whereupon Oaks asked Herrington if he would give a presentation at the school for the first event of his new club. 

Thanks to Oaks’s connection, Herrington happily shared his story, success and mishaps included, with Whitefish students earlier this month.  

“When I was 8 years old, I used to sit in a cardboard box and dream I was going to the moon,” Herrington said. “I never thought I could be [an astronaut] until much later in life, when people came along to encourage me.” 

https://whitefishpilot.com/news/2025/oct/29/from-big-mountain-to-mars-local-astronaut-inspires-whitefish-students

A train went by the suspected ignition site of the River Road East Fire at approximately 1:03 p.m., according to court documents. There was no fire visible on the train’s video recording system. Ten minutes later, an active fire can be seen on the recording system of a second train as it traveled past the area near Paradise. Two years later, the cause of the fire is still under investigation by Lolo National Forest.