Portrait of John Casper
NASA

John Casper

John Casper is an American astronaut who was born on July 9, 1943 in Georgia. Before he was an astronaut, Casper was an Air Force fighter pilot in the Vietnam war. He has flown over 7000 hours in 51 types of aircraft.

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.

Casper made his third spaceflight aboard STS-62 in 1994. The crew did tests in chemistry and space manufacturing. He made his last flight in 1996 aboard STS-77.


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