Mission Atlantis: Spacewalking Veterans Set for Orbital Return

A pair of veteran NASA spacewalkers is set to return to the International Space Station (ISS) this week aboard the shuttle Atlantis to help boost the orbital laboratory's power supply.

Astronauts Jim Reilly II and Patrick Forrester are gearing up for a planned June 8 launch into orbit alongside their five STS-117 crewmates to deliver two massive starboard trusses and solar arrays to ISS. The two spaceflyers are the experienced half of a four-astronaut team that will pair off in twos to install the new station segments over the course of three planned spacewalks.

"We're really looking forward to it," Reilly told reporters in a preflight briefing, adding that the Atlantis crew is taking the best methods of NASA's last two shuttle flights - many tasks of which are being repeated during STS-117 -- to ensure success. "It's all been done before. You just have to do it, but do it better."

Reilly, Forrester and their STS-117 crewmates plan to launch Friday for a planned 11-day construction flight to the ISS. The astronauts are hauling the 17.5-ton Starboard 3/Starboard 4 (S3/S4) truss segments and new solar wings to the orbital laboratory and hope to furl away an older solar array in what will mark NASA's first of up to four shuttle flights this year.

Taking the lead

Hailing from Mesquite, Texas, Reilly is a veteran of two shuttle flights and three spacewalks since he first joined NASA's astronaut corps in 1994. He will serve as NASA's chief spacewalker during the STS-117 mission.

"For me, personally, it started when I was eight years old, John Glenn was flying on his first flight and of all places I was sitting in a dentist chair?," Reilly, 53, said of his astronaut path in a NASA interview, adding that his dentist was a spaceflight fan. "I was just laying there with all this stuff in my mouth, [and] he asked me if I ever thought I'd like to be an astronaut. I thought, 'Anything but here.'"

Reilly holds a Ph.D. in geosciences from the University of Texas-Dallas, and served as an oil and gas exploration geologist before signing on as a NASA astronaut.

He made his first spaceflight aboard the shuttle Endeavour in 1998 for NASA's STS-89 mission to Russia's Mir space station to deliver new cargo and a U.S. astronaut to the orbital laboratory. In 2001, he helped install the U.S. Quest airlock at the ISS over the course of three spacewalks during the 12-day STS-104 shuttle flight aboard Atlantis. Altogether, he has spent more than 21 days flying in space.

"Seeing this massive piece of equipment in space and looking at it and saying, we have don this in just a matter of a couple of years?it was a real 'gee whiz' moment for me at that point," Reilly said, adding that he believes the science the station will ultimate yield will have a huge impact for those on Earth. "So in a much bigger sense, it's really an investment in our future and our kids' future."

During STS-117, Reilly will participate in the first and third planned spacewalks for the 11-day mission to install new trusses and solar arrays. He will also help orchestrate the second spacewalk from inside the Atlantis orbiter's flight deck.

But from a personal standpoint, he told reporters that he hopes to snap the ultimate travel photo to catch the Earth below his feet while performing a spacewalk.

"That's one of the most remarkable views there is," Reilly said. "To kind of realize you're a human satellite."

The Army's astronaut

Like Reilly, Forrester is making his own return to the space and the ISS during the STS-117, though his path did not always point towards orbit.

"I grew up in a military family," Forrester, 50, said in a NASA interview, adding that his father Redmond ? a retired U.S. Army colonel ? was a career officer. "I knew that was what I wanted to do, too."

But after reading about Gen. Bob Stewart, the U.S. Army's first astronaut, Forrester opted to pursue spaceflight on his own.

"I started thinking, wow, you know, you can do this thing that I love, which is being an Army officer -- think that's a really important role -- and but also an astronaut," said Forrester, who is also a retired Army colonel. "Once I latched onto that, I never really let it go."

Forrester holds a bachelors of science degree in from the U.S. Military Academy in West Point. While he initially hoped to an infantry lieutenant, Forrester's astronaut goals carried him back to graduate school, where he obtained a masters of science in mechanical and aerospace engineering from the University of Virginia.

After serving as an assault helicopter officer, he went on to serve as a flight test engineer and test pilot in subsequent positions and underwent training with the Army parachutist course, U.S. Army Ranger School and other military schools to become a Master Army Aviator with more than 4,000 hours of flight time in 50 different aircraft. He and his wife Diana have two children.

Forrester first joined NASA's ranks as an aerospace engineer in 1993 and was selected to become a mission specialist astronaut in May 1996. He first launched to space aboard the space shuttle Discovery in 2001 on NASA's STS-105 mission to ferry a new crew and fresh supplies to the ISS. During that 12-day spaceflight, Forrester performed two spacewalks and served alongside fellow astronaut Rick Sturckow, who is commanding the upcoming STS-117 mission.

"It was just a pleasure to be assigned to fly with him again," Forrester said of Sturckow in a preflight briefing. "That really helped me, starting off, to know exactly what would be expected in this training flow."

Forrester will team up with fellow STS-117 spacewalker Steve Swanson during their mission's second planned spacewalk to install the S3/S4 truss segments and solar arrays. He will also serve as the mission's primary robotic arm wrangler and will wield Atlantis' 50-foot (15-meter) appendage to help conduct heat shield inspections and pluck the $367.3 million S3/S4 truss out of the orbiter's cargo bay and hand it off to the station's own arm.

Installing the new solar arrays will be vital to the space station's ability to support new international laboratories, Forrester said, adding that the impact of human spaceflight ? and the ISS in particular ? will likely be one felt strongest in the future, when its place as a feat of engineering and cooperation are clearer. He also hopes that his second spaceflight will allow him to savor the vivid colors and views of the growing station.

"It's a beautiful thing," Forrester said if the ISS. "It's funny to say that of something made of metal."

• SPACE.com Video Interplayer: Space Station Power Up with STS-117
• STS-117 Power Play: Atlantis Shuttle Crew to Deliver ISS Solar Wings
• Complete Shuttle Mission Coverage