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By NASA
July 3, 2024
RELEASE: J24-011
Former Chief Astronaut Patrick Forrester NASA NASA astronaut Patrick G. Forrester retired June 29, after a career spanning 31 years of service and three spaceflights. He went on to become chief of NASA’s Astronaut Office, and most recently served as an advisor to the associate administrator for the Space Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
Forrester joined the agency in 1993 as an aerospace engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and was selected to become an astronaut in 1996. He dedicated his early career to the assembly of the International Space Station, spending 40 days in space and completing four spacewalks totaling 25 hours and 30 minutes.
“Pat’s dedication and commitment to the advancement of human space exploration over the past three decades has been an inspiration, not just to the Johnson workforce, but the Artemis generation as well,” said NASA’s Johnson Space Center Director Vanessa Wyche. “I want to extend my sincere gratitude to Pat for his outstanding contributions. His legacy will continue to impact the agency and the next generation of explorers for many years to come. Many congratulations to Pat; I wish him all the best in his retirement.”
Forrester launched to the space station for the first time in August 2001 aboard space shuttle Discovery in support of STS-105. Forrester was the mission’s prime robotics operator, helping to install the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module that would help deliver 2.7 metric tons of supplies to the station. He flew again with STS-117 in June 2007 aboard space shuttle Atlantis, delivering the orbiting laboratory’s second starboard truss and its third set of solar arrays. His final spaceflight, STS-128 aboard Discovery, launched in August 2009. As prime robotics officer, Forrester again installed Leonardo and the crew transferred 18,000 pounds of supplies.
Forrester continued to support the astronaut corps through numerous leadership positions, serving as technical assistant to the director of Flight Crew Operations. He was a crew representative of robotics development on the space station and shuttle training and onboard crew procedures. Forrester also held the role of spacecraft communicator, or CAPCOM, for both station and shuttle missions.
In 2017, Forrester became chief of the Astronaut Office, overseeing the first flights of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and helping develop the initial architecture for the agency’s Artemis campaign. In 2020, he stepped down from his chief position, handing over to NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman.
“Pat’s leadership was instrumental during a time where NASA was just starting to launch our astronauts from American soil again,” said Norm Knight, director of flight operations at NASA Johnson. “I admire his courage, his tenacity, and his character during such a dynamic time in our history, and I thank him for laying a strong foundation, not just in his role as chief astronaut, but through his career in human spaceflight. To me, he is a mentor and a friend, and I wish him all the best.”
At the time of his retirement, Forrester supported the Space Operations Mission Directorate, serving as the director of the Cross-Directorate Technical Integration Office and an adviser to the directorate’s associate administrator and fellow NASA astronaut Ken Bowersox.
“Pat is an incredible leader who has provided invaluable service to NASA’s astronaut corps and human spaceflight during his career,” said Ken Bowersox, associate administrator for space operations at NASA. “In the Space Operations Mission Directorate, his influence will be felt long after his departure as we continue to work every day in low Earth orbit and prepare for the future near Earth, at the Moon, Mars and into the solar system.”
An El Paso, Texas, native, Forrester earned a bachelor of science degree in applied sciences and engineering from the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York, and a master of science in mechanical and aerospace engineering from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville. A retired colonel in the U.S. Army, Forrester logged more than 5,300 hours of flight time in over 50 different aircraft as an operational aviator and test pilot, retiring in 2005.
“It has been an honor to serve our nation as a member of the NASA family. Many of the stories I will tell for the rest of my life will be related to my experiences here,” said Forrester. “I look forward to watching my friends and colleagues circle the Moon and eventually land on its surface – with the help of all those serving faithfully on the ground. I am forever grateful.”
Read Forrester’s full biography at:
https://go.nasa.gov/45NnfUA
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Chelsey Ballarte
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
chelsey.n.ballarte@nasa.gov
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By European Space Agency
Thousands of visitors flocked to ESA’s establishment in the UK last Saturday to experience first-hand how the agency is pushing the boundaries of exploration and using space to improve life on Earth.
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By NASA
5 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
This artist’s concept depicts an asteroid drifting through space. Many such objects frequently pass Earth. To help prepare for the discovery of one with a chance of impacting our planet, NASA leads regular exercises to figure out how the international community could respond to such a threat.NASA/JPL-Caltech The fifth Planetary Defense Interagency Tabletop Exercise focused on an asteroid impact scenario designed by NASA JPL’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies.
A large asteroid impacting Earth is highly unlikely for the foreseeable future. But because the damage from such an event could be great, NASA leads hypothetical asteroid impact “tabletop” exercises every two years with experts and decision-makers from federal and international agencies to address the many uncertainties of an impact scenario. The most recent exercise took place this past April, with a preliminary report being issued on June 20.
Making such a scenario realistic and useful for all involved is no small task. Scientists from the Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which specializes in the tracking and orbital determination of asteroids and comets and finding out if any are hazards to Earth, have played a major role in designing these exercises since the first 11 years ago.
“These hypothetical scenarios are complex and take significant effort to design, so our purpose is to make them useful and challenging for exercise participants and decision-makers to hone their processes and procedures to quickly come to a plan of action while addressing gaps in the planetary defense community’s knowledge,” said JPL’s Paul Chodas, the director of CNEOS.
The Impact Scenario
This year’s scenario: A hypothetical asteroid, possibly several hundred yards across, has been discovered, with an estimated 72% chance of impacting Earth in 14 years. Potential impact locations include heavily populated areas in North America, Southern Europe, and North Africa, but there is still a 28% chance the asteroid will miss Earth. After several months of being tracked, the asteroid moves too close to the Sun, making further observations impossible for another seven months. Decision-makers must figure out what to do.
Explore asteroids and near-Earth objects in real-time 3D Leading the exercise was NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO), the Federal Emergency Management Agency Response Directorate, and the Department of State Office of Space Affairs. Over the course of two days in April, participants gathered at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, which hosted the event, to consider the potential national and global responses to the scenario.
“This was a very successful tabletop exercise, with nearly 100 participants from U.S. government agencies and, for the first time, international planetary defense experts,” said Terik Daly from APL, who coordinated the exercise. “An asteroid impact would have severe national and international ramifications, so should this scenario play out for real, we’d need international collaboration.”
Reality Informs Fiction
In real life, CNEOS calculates the orbit of every known near-Earth object to provide assessments of future potential impact hazards in support of NASA’s planetary defense program. To make this scenario realistic, the CNEOS team simulated all the observations in the months leading up to the exercise and used orbital determination calculations to simulate the probability of impact.
“At this point in time, the impact was likely but not yet certain, and there were significant uncertainties in the object’s size and the impact location,” said Davide Farnocchia, a navigation engineer at JPL and CNEOS, who led the design of the asteroid’s orbit. “It was interesting to see how this affected the decision-makers’ choices and how the international community might respond to a real-world threat 14 years out.”
Options to Deflect
Preparation, planning, and decision-making have been key focal points of all five exercises that have taken place over the past 11 years. For instance, could a reconnaissance spacecraft be sent to the asteroid to gather additional data on its orbit and better determine its size and mass? Would it also be feasible to attempt deflecting the asteroid so that it would miss Earth? The viability of this method was recently demonstrated by NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), which impacted the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos on Sept. 26, 2022, slightly changing its trajectory. Other methods of deflection have also been considered during the exercises.
But any deflection or reconnaissance mission would need many years of preparation, requiring the use of advanced observatories capable of finding hazardous asteroids as early as possible. NASA’s Near-Earth Object Surveyor, or NEO Surveyor, is one such observatory. Managed by JPL and planned for launch in late 2027, the infrared space telescope will detect light and dark asteroids, including those that orbit near the Sun. In doing so, NEO Surveyor will support PDCO’s objectives to discover any hazardous asteroids as early as possible so that there would be more time to launch a deflection mission to potential threats.
To find out the outcome of the exercise, read NASA’s preliminary summary.
For more information about CNEOS, visit:
https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/
NASA Study: Asteroid’s Orbit, Shape Changed After DART Impact NASA Program Predicted Impact of Small Asteroid Over Ontario, Canada Classroom Activity: Modeling an Asteroid News Media Contacts
Ian J. O’Neill
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-2649
ian.j.oneill@jpl.nasa.gov
Karen Fox / Charles Blue
NASA Headquarters
202-358-1600 / 202-802-5345
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / charles.e.blue@nasa.gov
2024-094
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Last Updated Jul 02, 2024 Related Terms
Asteroids NEA Scout (Near Earth Asteroid Scout) NEO Surveyor (Near-Earth Object Surveyor Space Telescope) Planetary Defense Planetary Defense Coordination Office Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA) Explore More
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Video: 00:38:43 Australian Space Agency astronaut candidate Katherine Bennell-Pegg joined ESA’s astronaut candidates from the class of 2022 for basic training through a cooperation agreement with ESA. Tune in as she shares her experiences in astronaut training, her favourite lessons, and what keeps her inspired on her journey to the stars!
This is episode 7 of our ESA Explores podcast series introducing the ESA astronaut class of 2022, recorded in March 2024.
Find out more about the ESA astronaut class of 2022.
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