Broken-down NASA Chief Astronaut Patrick Forrester Retires
July 3, 2024
RELEASE: J24-011
NASA astronaut Patrick G. Forrester retired June 29, after a occupation spanning 31 years of provider and three spaceflights. He went on to change into chief of NASA’s Astronaut Office, and most currently served as an advisor to the affiliate administrator for the Location Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
Forrester joined the company in 1993 as an aerospace engineer at NASA’s Johnson Location Heart in Houston and became selected to change into an astronaut in 1996. He devoted his early occupation to the assembly of the Global Location Space, spending 40 days in region and completing four spacewalks totaling 25 hours and half-hour.
“Pat’s dedication and dedication to the event of human region exploration over the last three a protracted time has been an inspiration, no longer staunch to the Johnson group, but the Artemis generation to boot,” acknowledged NASA’s Johnson Location Heart Director Vanessa Wyche. “I are alive to to lengthen my staunch gratitude to Pat for his noteworthy contributions. His legacy will continue to affect the company and the subsequent generation of explorers for just a few future years wait on. Many congratulations to Pat; I wish him all of the tell in his retirement.”
Forrester launched to the region region for the first time in August 2001 aboard region shuttle Discovery in aid of STS-105. Forrester became the mission’s high robotics operator, helping to set up the Leonardo Multi-Motive Logistics Module that might maybe aid train 2.7 metric many of supplies to the region. He flew one more time with STS-117 in June 2007 aboard region shuttle Atlantis, handing over the orbiting laboratory’s 2d starboard truss and its third characteristic of solar arrays. His final spaceflight, STS-128 aboard Discovery, launched in August 2009. As high robotics officer, Forrester one more time keep in Leonardo and the crew transferred 18,000 kilos of supplies.
Forrester persevered to aid the astronaut corps thru just a few leadership positions, serving as technical assistant to the director of Flight Crew Operations. He became a crew advisor of robotics development on the region region and shuttle coaching and onboard crew procedures. Forrester also held the role of spacecraft communicator, or CAPCOM, for both region and shuttle missions.
In 2017, Forrester turned chief of the Astronaut Office, overseeing the first flights of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and helping build the initial structure for the company’s Artemis campaign. In 2020, he stepped down from his chief region, handing over to NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman.
“Pat’s leadership became instrumental all over a time the keep NASA became staunch initiating to launch our astronauts from American soil one more time,” acknowledged Norm Knight, director of flight operations at NASA Johnson. “I cherish his courage, his tenacity, and his persona all around the type of dynamic time in our history, and I thank him for laying a solid basis, no longer staunch in his role as chief astronaut, but thru his occupation in human spaceflight. To me, he’s a mentor and a chum, and I wish him all of the tell.”
At the time of his retirement, Forrester supported the Location Operations Mission Directorate, serving because the director of the Inappropriate-Directorate Technical Integration Office and an adviser to the directorate’s affiliate administrator and fellow NASA astronaut Ken Bowersox.
“Pat is an efficient wanting chief who has supplied primary provider to NASA’s astronaut corps and human spaceflight all over his occupation,” acknowledged Ken Bowersox, affiliate administrator for region operations at NASA. “Within the Location Operations Mission Directorate, his affect shall be felt lengthy after his departure as we continue to work on each day basis in low Earth orbit and put together for the future end to Earth, on the Moon, Mars and into the solar machine.”
An El Paso, Texas, native, Forrester earned a bachelor of science degree in utilized sciences and engineering from the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, Novel York, and a master of science in mechanical and aerospace engineering from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville. A retired colonel within the U.S. Army, Forrester logged extra than 5,300 hours of flight time in over 50 varied airplane as an operational aviator and test pilot, retiring in 2005.
“It has been an honor to back our nation as a member of the NASA household. A lot of the reviews I will repeat for the leisure of my life shall be connected to my experiences here,” acknowledged Forrester. “I take care of up for gazing my visitors and colleagues circle the Moon and indirectly land on its floor – with the lend a hand of all these serving faithfully on the bottom. I’m without break grateful.”
Read Forrester’s full biography at:
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Chelsey Ballarte
Johnson Location Heart, Houston
281-483-5111
chelsey.n.ballarte@nasa.gov
