| John Howard Casper | |
|---|---|
| NASA Astronaut | |
| Nationality | American |
| Status | Retired |
| Born | July 9, 1943 Greenville, South Carolina |
| Other occupation | Test Pilot |
| Rank | Colonel, USAF |
| Time in space | 34d 09h 52m |
| Selection | 1984 NASA Group |
| Missions | STS-36, STS-54, STS-62, STS-77 |
| Mission insignia | |
John Howard Casper (born July 9, 1943) is an American astronaut. Although born in South Carolina, he considers Gainesville, Georgia to be his hometown. He was active in the Boy Scouts of America where he achieved its second highest rank, Life Scout. He graduated with a bachelor of science in engineering science from the United States Air Force Academy in 1966 and a master of science in astronautics from Purdue University in 1967.
Before he was an astronaut, Casper was a United States Air Force fighter pilot in the Vietnam War. He has logged over 7000 hours of flight time in 51 types of aircraft. Casper was selected to attend the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School and graduated with class 74A.[1]
Casper became an astronaut in 1985. He has spent over 825 hours in space on four spaceflights.
In 1990, Casper made his first spaceflight aboard STS-36. This was a Department of Defense mission. He flew aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1993. The crew deployed the Tracking and Data Relay satellite during this mission.
Casper made his third spaceflight aboard STS-62 in 1994. The crew performed experiments in chemistry and space manufacturing. He made his last flight in 1996 aboard STS-77. The crew made several rendezvous sequences with four different satellites.
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