John Casper
John Howard Casper (born July 9, 1943 in Greenville, South Carolina) is an American astronaut. 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, earning his pilot wings at Reese Air Force Base. Selected by NASA in May 1984, Casper became an astronaut in June 1985. A veteran of four space flights, he has logged over 825 hours in space. Following his last Shuttle mission, Colonel Casper has served in positions of increasing responsibility in NASA. Casper was Director of Safety, Reliability, and Quality Assurance at the Johnson Space Center, where he was responsible for all safety, reliability and quality activities for JSC\'s human spaceflight programs, including the International Space Station, the Space Shuttle, Space Launch Initiative, and Crew Return Vehicles. He also was responsible for planning, directing and implementing an effective institutional safety program to prevent injuries, loss of life, or loss of capital assets. After the Columbia disaster in February 2003, Casper became the NASA Mishap Investigation Team\'s deputy for the Columbia debris recovery operation, which involved directing the efforts of over 6,000 ground, air, and water search personnel, as well as protection and impoundment of debris. He was Co-Chair of the Return-To-Flight Planning Team, a NASA Headquarters-chartered independent team charged with addressing all actions necessary to comply with the Columbia Accident Investigation Board recommendations. He then joined the Space Shuttle program and became Manager of the Management Integration and Planning Office, responsible for Return-to-Flight planning and management integration across all program elements.
Spaceflights
No. Mission Position Time Duration
1 STS-36 PLT 28.02. - 04.03.1990 4d 10h 18m
2 STS-54 CDR 13.01. - 19.01.1993 5d 23h 38m
3 STS-62 CDR 04.03. - 18.03.1994 13d 23h 16m
4 STS-77 CDR 19.05. - 29.05.1996 10d 00h 40m
Total 34d 09h 52m
