Patrick Forrester
Patrick Graham Forrester (born March 31, 1957) is a retired United States Army officer and a NASA astronaut. At the time of his retirement from the U.S. Army, Forrester had achieved the rank of Colonel. Forrester graduated from West Point in June 1979 and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He entered the U.S. Army Aviation School in 1979 and was designated an Army Aviator in September 1980. He was subsequently assigned as an instructor pilot at the Aviation School, and as the Aide-de-Camp to the Deputy Commanding General of the U.S. Army Aviation Center. In 1984. After completing a master of science degree at the University of Virginia in 1989, he was assigned as a flight test engineer and as the research and development coordinator with the Army Aviation Engineering Flight Activity at Edwards Air Force Base, California. In June 1992, he graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School and was designated an experimental test pilot. In 1992, he was assigned as an engineering test pilot at the U.S. Army Aviation Technical Test Center, Fort Rucker, Alabama. Other military schools include the Army Parachutist Course, U.S. Army Ranger School, the Combined Arms Services Staff School, and the Command and General Staff College. Forrester was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in May 1996. Having completed two years of training and evaluation, he is qualified for flight assignment as a mission specialist. Initially, Forrester was assigned to duties at the Kennedy Space Center as a member of the astronaut support team, responsible for Shuttle prelaunch vehicle checkout, crew ingress and strap-in, and crew egress after landing. He next served as the technical assistant to the Director, Flight Crew Operations. Following that, Forrester served as the Shuttle training and on-board crew procedures representative. Forrester flew on STS-105 in 2001, with the crew of STS-117 in 2007, and as a mission specialist on the STS-128 mission in 2009. He has logged over 950 hours in space, including four spacewalks totaling 25 hours and 22 minutes of EVA time. Currently, Forrester serves as Chief of Safety for the Astronaut Office.
Spaceflights:
No. Mission Position Time Duration
1 STS-105 MSP 10.08. - 22.08.2001 11d 21h 13m
2 STS-117 MSP 08.06. - 22.06.2007 13d 20h 11m
3 STS-128 MSP 29.08. - 12.09.2009 13d 20h 54m
Total 39d 14h 18m
