April 30, 2009
John Casani of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.,
has been honored with the National Air and Space Museum's prestigious
Lifetime Achievement Award. The award, the museum's highest honor,
was presented to Casani during an April 29, black tie event at the
Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum building in Washington.
"John was here at the beginning when JPL moved from building rockets
to building spacecraft for exploring the planets and deep space,"
said JPL Director Charles Elachi. "He helped lay the foundation of
how we approach project management and build spacecraft - essentially
how our nation would explore space. And when today we send these rovers
and other spacecraft on missions across the solar system, we are really
standing on the shoulders of giants like John Casani."
Casani's work can be found at the farthest reaches of our solar system.
He began his career at JPL in the mid-1950s, working on the lab's Jupiter
and Sergeant rocket programs. He went on to become an engineer on the
early Pioneer moon missions and led the design team for both the Ranger
and Mariner spacecraft. Casani held senior project positions on many of
the Mariner missions to Mars and Venus, and in 1970 became project manager
of Mariner 6 and Mariner 7. Later, Casani would project-manage NASA's
Voyager mission to the outer planets, Galileo mission to Jupiter, and
Cassini mission to Saturn, as well as the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter mission.
Today, Casani is Special Assistant to the Director at JPL.
Casani has been honored with several NASA awards, including the Distinguished
Service Medal (NASA's highest award). He has received the American
Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Space System Award,
the von Karman Lectureship, the National Space Club Astronauts Engineer
Award, and the American Astronomical Society's Space Flight Award. He is
a Fellow of the AIAA and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering
and the International Astronautics Academy. In 1965, the president of Italy
awarded Casani the Italian Order of Merit and bestowed on him the title
of Commendatore.
John Casani holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering
and an honorary doctor of science degree from the University of Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia, and an honorary degree in aerospace engineering from the
University of Rome, Italy.
Also honored last night with the Air and Space Museum's 2009 Lifetime Achievement
was NASA test pilot and two-time shuttle astronaut Gordon Fullerton.
Established in 1985, the National Air and Space Museum Lifetime Achievement
Award is presented annually to recognize outstanding achievement in scientific
or technological endeavors relating to air and space technology and exploration.
Previous recipients of the Lifetime Achievement award include Apollo astronaut
Neil Armstrong and scientist James Van Allen.
For more information on JPL please visit us on the Web at: www.jpl.nasa.gov .
For more information on the National Air and Space Museum Trophy and other awards
in the museum's collections, visit http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/aero/trophy/ .
Media contacts: DC Agle 818-393-9011
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
agle@jpl.nasa.gov
Isabel Lara 202-633-2374
Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, Washington
LaraI@si.edu
2009-076