Atlantis (STS-117) launched 2007

STS-117 crew (L-R): Clayton Anderson, James Reilly, Steven Swanson, Frederick Sturckow, Lee Archambault, Patrick Forrester, John Olivas

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-117), launched June 8, 2007, carried a truss segment and a set of solar arrays to the International Space Station.  Its crew consisted of Commander Frederick Sturckow, Pilot Lee Archambault, Patrick Forrester, Steven Swanson, John Olivas, James Reilly and Clayton Anderson. 

Reilly, Olivas, Forrester, and Swanson performed four EVAs for a combined total of 28 hours.  They returned to Earth June 22.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Patrick Forrester!

Patrick Forrester, born March 31, 1957 in El Paso, Texas, is a veteran of three space shuttle missions.

His first mission was aboard Discovery (STS-105) as mission specialist to the International Space Station in August 2001.  He conducted 2 EVAs with fellow astronaut Daniel Barry for over 12 hours  total.

His second mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-117) as mission specialist to the ISS in June 2007.  He conducted two more EVAs with fellow astronaut Steven Swanson for almost 14 hours.

His third and final mission was aboard Discovery (STS-128) as mission specialist to the ISS in August-September 2009, but he did not do any EVAs during this trip into space.

Soyuz TMA-12M launched 2014

Soyuz TMA-12M crew (L-R): Steve Swanson, Aleksandr Skvortsov, Oleg Artemyev

Mission patch

Soyuz TMA-12M, launched March 25, 2014, carried part of the crew of Expedition 39 to the International Space Station.  Its crew consisted of Commander Aleksandr Skvortsov (Roscosmos), Oleg Artemyev (Roscosmos) and Steve Swanson (NASA).

In May, they transferred to the crew of Expedition 40 upon the departure of Soyuz TMA-11M.  They remained on board until they returned to Earth in September 2014.

Happy birthday, astronaut Ricky Arnold!

Richard "Ricky" Arnold, born November 26, 1963 just down the road from here in Cheverly, Maryland, has been in space twice.  He attended Frostburg State University in Maryland, getting a degree in accounting and then completed teacher certification there.  He got a Master's Degree from the University of Maryland in 1992.

His first flight was aboard Discovery (STS-119) as mission specialist to the International Space Station in March 2009.  He conducted two EVAs during the mission with fellow astronauts Steven Swanson and Joe Acaba.

His second mission was aboard Soyuz MS-08, launched in March 2018 to the International Space Station as part of the crew of Expedition 55 with fellow astronauts Oleg Artemyev and Andrew Feustel.  They spent over 196 days in space, returning to Earth in October 2018.

Happy birthday, astronaut Steven Swanson!

Steven Swanson, born December 3, 1960 in Syracuse, New York, grew up in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.  He is a veteran of two space shuttle missions and one Soyuz mission.

His first flight into space was aboard Atlantis (STS-117) to the International Space Station in June 2007 as mission specialist. The mission lasted almost two weeks because of bad weather, making it the longest mission for Atlantis.

Swanson's second flight was aboard Discovery (STS-119) in March 2009 to the ISS as mission specialist.  He performed two EVAs during the mission.

His third and last mission was aboard Soyuz TMA-12M to the ISS as part of Expedition 39 and 40, the latter of which he served as commander.  He spent 169 days in space.



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Discovery (STS-119) launched 2009

Front row (L–R) Tony Antonelli, Lee Archambault. 

Back row (L–R) Joe Acaba, John L. Phillips, Steven Swanson, Richard Arnold, Koichi Wakata.

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-119) was launched March 15, 2009, the 125th shuttle mission and 28th trip to the International Space Station.  Its crew consisted of Commander Lee Archambault, Pilot Tony Antonelli, Joe Acaba, Steven Swanson, Richard Arnold, John L. Phillips and Koichi Wakata from JAXA.

A free-tailed bat was seen clinging to a fuel tank during the launch.  NASA observers thought it was have flown off once the shuttle started to launch but it did not.  A bat doctor analyzed the pictures and believed that it might have had a broken wing which is why it didn't fly away.  It probably was shaken off and incinerated in the rocket exhaust. 

They docked with the ISS on March 17 and crew performed three EVAs during the mission.  Wakata remained on board the ISS as part of Expedition 18.  Sandra Magnus, another member of Expedition 18, returned to Earth with the STS-119 crew March 28.