As a NASA astronaut, former Springfield resident Patrick Forrester has has seen the most breathtaking views and embarked on voyages that most can only dream of taking. No matter how far he travels from this planet, however, he will never lose sight of his home.

Forrester, 52, started life as a “military kid,” moving with his family across the country, yet followed his dreams all the way to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Though he has come a long way from his Fairfax County roots, he still looks back at his time here fondly, crediting his education in Fairfax County Public Schools with helping him achieve his dreams.

“My education in Fairfax County schools prepared me so well for my future,” Forrester said. “In 1971, when I graduated from high school, I had no idea I’d be doing what I am today.”

Forrester was born in El Paso, Texas, into a military family. His father, Redmond Forrester, was a full colonel in the U.S. Army, and in the mid-1960s, was reassigned to serve at the Pentagon. So, as he had done many times before, Forrester and his family packed up and followed their father, settling in the Springfield area when Forrester was in the third grade. After attending Keene Mill Elementary School and Washington Irving Middle School, he matriculated to West Springfield High School.

After graduation, he was accepted into the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., with the intention of being an officer in the Army. Forrester graduated from West Point 1979 and was immediately commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He entered the U.S. Army Aviation School later that year 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-damp to the deputy commanding general of the U.S. Army Aviation Center.

“It was a very hard decision to enroll at West Point,” Forrester said. “I loved the University of Virginia and Virginia itself, so I really wanted to stay here [when I graduated].”

In 1984, Forrester was assigned to the 25th Infantry Division, stationed in Hawaii, where he served as a platoon leader, aviation company operations officer and an assault helicopter battalion operations officer. Forrester finally got his wish to return to Virginia during this time, as he was selected by the Army for advanced civil education. He was given the choice to attend any school that offered a master’s degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering, and he chose the University of Virginia.

“They tell you what degree they want you to get and you get to select the school,” Forrester said. “So I immediately chose UVA.”

After completing his 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 in California. To further his flight career, he needed to become a test pilot, but since the Army does not have test pilots, he was sent to the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, where he graduated from in 1992. he graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School and was designated an experimental test pilot. Later that year, he was assigned as an engineering test pilot at the U.S. Army Aviation Technical Test Center in Fort Rucker, Ala., where he remained until his retirement from the Army in 2005, reaching the rank of full colonel.

IT WAS DURING this time that Forrester first had interest in becoming an astronaut. Forrester said that he was reading an army magazine and saw an article about the first Army astronaut, Brig. Gen. Bob Stewart. Forrester said that this was the first time he realized that he could be an astronaut,. When he was growing up, the first space shuttle had not even launched.

“I didn’t even know that the Army had astronauts,” Forrester said. “It was just a small article in a magazine, but it really caught my attention.”

After this interest was stoked by the article, Forrester began focusing his career in the army on aerospace travel. He was assigned to NASA at the Johnson Space Center as an aerospace engineer in 1993, where he served in a multitude of capacities ranging from the administrative to the hands-on. He was soon selected in 1996 as a mission specialist astronaut candidate by NASA due to his performance at the Johnson Space Center. After completing two years of training and evaluation, he was qualified for flight assignment as a mission specialist and was assigned to duties at the Kennedy Space

Forrester’s first space mission came in 2001, when he flew STS-105 Discovery to the International Space Station. While at the station, he and his crew delivered the Expedition-3 crew and transferred nearly 3 metric tons of supplies and equipment to the station. During the mission, Forrester performed two spacewalks totaling 11 hours and 45 minutes.

His second mission took place in the summer of 2007, when he flew to the International Space Station for a second time, again to deliver equipment that would be used to repair a segment of the station. Forrester accumulated 13 hours and 37 minutes more in two spacewalks, and traveled 5.8 million miles in 14 days. His most recent mission was completed on Sept. 11, as he traveled for a third time to the International Space Station. In total, Forrester has logged more than 950 hours in space, including four spacewalks totaling 25 hours and 22 minutes.

“It is truly remarkable to travel to space,” Forrester said. “The opportunity to be outside the shuttle and to see the earth from that view is really amazing.”

The September mission will most likely be Forrester’s last, as the U.S. Government decided to end the space shuttle program. Though six more missions are slated before the program’s termination, the crews have already been assigned. So, according to Forrester, he will most likely go back to the administrative side at NASA, where he will provide support to the next wave of NASA programs.

“The final six missions are all assigned,” Forrester said. “So my future will be more in the management and support side of things as we move onto the next step.”

Though it has been many years since Forrester has lived in Fairfax County, he will always look at his time here as one of the forces that helped shape not only his career, but his character. Because of that, he said, he will always call this area home.

“I will always consider the place where I grew up to be my hometown,” Forrester said.