Project Casper

John Casper recieved his Master’s Degree in Astronautics from Purdue University in 1967. John was selected for astronaut training in 1984 and has logged more than 825 hours in space. He completed his first mission in 1990, serving as pilot of STS-36. In 1993, he commanded STS-54, which deployed a $200 million NASA tracking and data relay satellite. The next year, Casper oversaw two weeks of microgravity research as commander of STS-62. And on his final shuttle mission — STS-77 in 1996 — he served as commander on a crew that performed a record number of rendezvous sequences. For the above reasons, we chose to name our 2020 project after Casper as a tribute to his courage and service for our country as well as his love for space.