Members Can Post Anonymously On This Site
Former F/A-18 pilot on UFO encounters and mysteriously missing radar footage
-
Similar Topics
-
By NASA
Former Johnson Director Jefferson Howell July 3, 2025
Jefferson Davis Howell, Jr., former director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, died July 2, in Bee Cave, Texas. He was 85 years old.
Howell was a champion of the construction of the International Space Station, working on a deadline to complete the orbiting lab by 2004. He oversaw four space shuttle crews delivering equipment and hardware to reach that goal. He also served as director during a pivotal moment for the agency: the loss of STS-107 and the crew of space shuttle Columbia. He made it his personal responsibility to meet with the families, look after them, and attend memorial services, all while keeping the families informed of the accident investigation as it unfolded.
“Gen. Howell led NASA Johnson through one of the most difficult chapters in our history, following the loss of Columbia and her crew,” said acting associate administrator Vanessa Wyche. “He brought strength and steady direction, guiding the workforce with clarity and compassion. He cared deeply for the people behind the mission and shared his leadership skills generously with the team. We extend our heartfelt condolences to his family and all who knew and loved him.”
At the time of his selection as director, he was serving as senior vice president with Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) as the program manager for the safety, reliability, and quality assurance contract at Johnson. Following the accident, he made it his mission to improve the relationship between the civil servant and contractor workforce. He left his position and the agency, in October 2005, shortly after the Return-to-Flight mission of STS-114.
“General Howell stepped into leadership at Johnson during a pivotal time, as the International Space Station was just beginning to take shape. He led and supported NASA’s successes not only in space but here on the ground — helping to strengthen the center’s culture and offering guidance through both triumph and tragedy,” said Steve Koerner, Johnson Space Center’s acting director. “On behalf of NASA’s Johnson Space Center, we offer our deepest sympathies to his family, friends, and all those who had the privilege of working alongside him. The impact of his legacy will continue to shape Johnson for decades to come.”
The Victoria, Texas, native was a retired lieutenant general in the U.S. Marine Corps with a decorated military career prior to his service at NASA. He flew more than 300 combat missions in Vietnam and Thailand.
Howell is survived by his wife Janel and two children. A tree dedication will be held at NASA Johnson’s memorial grove in the coming year.
-end-
Chelsey Ballarte
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
chelsey.n.ballarte@nasa.gov
View the full article
-
By NASA
Explore Hubble Hubble Home Overview About Hubble The History of Hubble Hubble Timeline Why Have a Telescope in Space? Hubble by the Numbers At the Museum FAQs Science Hubble Science Science Themes Science Highlights Science Behind Discoveries Hubble’s Partners in Science Universe Uncovered Hubble and Artificial Intelligence Explore the Night Sky Impact & Benefits Hubble’s Impact & Benefits Science Impacts Cultural Impact Technology Benefits Impact on Human Spaceflight Astro Community Impacts Observatory Hubble Observatory Hubble Design Mission Operations Missions to Hubble Hubble vs Webb Team Hubble Team Career Aspirations Hubble Astronauts Multimedia Images Videos Sonifications Podcasts e-Books Online Activities 3D Hubble Models Lithographs Fact Sheets Posters Hubble on the NASA App Glossary News Hubble News Social Media Media Resources More 35th Anniversary Online Activities 2 min read
Hubble Observations Give “Missing” Globular Cluster Time to Shine
This NASA Hubble Space Telescope image features a dense and dazzling array of blazing stars that form globular cluster ESO 591-12. NASA, ESA, and D. Massari (INAF — Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)
Download this image
A previously unexplored globular cluster glitters with multicolored stars in this NASA Hubble Space Telescope image. Globular clusters like this one, called ESO 591-12 or Palomar 8, are spherical collections of tens of thousands to millions of stars tightly bound together by gravity. Globular clusters generally form early in the galaxies’ histories in regions rich in gas and dust. Since the stars form from the same cloud of gas as it collapses, they typically hover around the same age. Strewn across this image of ESO 591-12 are a number of red and blue stars. The colors indicate their temperatures; red stars are cooler, while the blue stars are hotter.
Hubble captured the data used to create this image of ESO 591-12 as part of a study intended to resolve individual stars of the entire globular cluster system of the Milky Way. Hubble revolutionized the study of globular clusters since earthbound telescopes are unable to distinguish individual stars in the compact clusters. The study is part of the Hubble Missing Globular Clusters Survey, which targets 34 confirmed Milky Way globular clusters that Hubble has yet to observe.
The program aims to provide complete observations of ages and distances for all of the Milky Way’s globular clusters and investigate fundamental properties of still-unexplored clusters in the galactic bulge or halo. The observations will provide key information on the early stages of our galaxy, when globular clusters formed.
Explore More
Hubble’s Star Clusters
Exploring the Birth of Stars
Facebook logo @NASAHubble @NASAHubble Instagram logo @NASAHubble Media Contact:
Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
Share
Details
Last Updated Jul 03, 2025 Editor Andrea Gianopoulos Location NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
Hubble Space Telescope Astrophysics Astrophysics Division Galaxies, Stars, & Black Holes Globular Clusters Goddard Space Flight Center Star Clusters Stars Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From Hubble
Hubble Space Telescope
Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe.
Hubble’s Cosmic Adventure
Hubble’s Night Sky Challenge
Hubble’s 35th Anniversary
View the full article
-
By USH
In 1992, Dr. Gregory Rogers a NASA flight surgeon and former Chief of Aerospace Medicine witnessed an event that would stay with him for more than three decades. Now, after years of silence, he’s finally revealing the details of a 15-minute encounter that shattered everything he thought he knew about aerospace technology.
With a distinguished career that includes support for 31 space shuttle launches, training as an F-16 pilot, and deep involvement in classified aerospace programs, Dr. Rogers brings unmatched credibility to the conversation. His firsthand account of observing what appeared to be a reverse-engineered craft, emblazoned with "U.S. Air Force" markings, raises profound questions about the true timeline of UAP development and disclosure.
The full interview spans nearly two hours. To help navigate the discussion, here’s a timeline so you can jump to the segments that interest you most.
00:00 Introduction and Dr. Rogers' Unprecedented Credentials 07:25 The 1992 Cape Canaveral Encounter Begins 18:45 Inside the Hangar: First Glimpse of the Craft 26:30 "We Got It From Them" - The Shocking Revelation 35:15 Technical Analysis: Impossible Flight Characteristics 43:40 Electromagnetic Discharges and Advanced Propulsion 52:20 The Cover Story and 33 Years of Silence 1:01:10 Why He's Speaking Out Now: Grush and Fravor's Influence 1:08:45 Bob Lazar Connections and Reverse Engineering Timeline 1:17:20 Flight Surgeon Stories: The Human Side of Classified Work 1:25:50 G-Force Brain Injuries: An Unreported Military Crisis 1:34:30 Columbia Disaster: When Safety Warnings Are Ignored 1:43:15 The Bureaucratic Resistance to Truth 1:50:40 Congressional Testimony and The Path Forward 1:58:25 Final Thoughts: Legacy vs. Truth
View the full article
-
By NASA
6 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
With Voyager 2 in the background, John Casani holds a small U.S. flag that was sewn into the spacecraft’s thermal blankets before its 1977 launch. Then Voyager’s project manager, Casani was first to envision the mission’s Golden Record, which lies before him with its cover at right. NASA/JPL-Caltech During his work on several historic missions, Casani rose through a series of technical and management positions, making an indelible mark on the nation’s space program.
John R. Casani, a visionary engineer who served a central role in many of NASA’s historic deep space missions, died on Thursday, June 19, 2025, at the age of 92. He was preceded in death by his wife of 39 years, Lynn Casani, in 2008 and is survived by five sons and their families.
Casani started at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California in 1956 and went on to work as an electronics engineer on some of the nation’s earliest spacecraft after NASA’s formation in 1958. Along with leading the design teams for both the Ranger and Mariner series of spacecraft, he held senior project positions on many of the Mariner missions to Mars and Venus, and was project manager for three trailblazing space missions: Voyager, Galileo, and Cassini.
His work helped advance NASA spacecraft in areas including mechanical technology, system design and integration, software, and deep space communications. No less demanding were the management challenges of these multifaceted missions, which led to innovations still in use today.
JPL’s John Casani receives the National Air & Space Museum’s Lifetime Achievement Award.Carolyn Russo/NASM, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution “John had a major influence on the development of spacecraft that visited almost every planet in our solar system, as well as the people who helped build them,” said JPL director Dave Gallagher. “He played an essential role in America’s first attempts to reach space and then the Moon, and he was just as crucial to the Voyager spacecraft that marked humanity’s first foray into interplanetary — and later, interstellar — space. That Voyager is still exploring after nearly 50 years is a testament to John’s remarkable engineering talent and his leadership that enabled others to push the boundaries of possibility.”
Born in Philadelphia in 1932, Casani studied electrical engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. After a short stint at an Air Force research lab, he moved to California in 1956 and was hired to work at JPL, a division of Caltech, on the guidance system for the U.S. Army Ballistic Missile Agency’s Jupiter-C and Sergeant missile programs.
In 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first human-made Earth satellite, alarming America and changing the trajectory of both JPL and Casani’s career. With the 1958 launch of Explorer 1, America’s first satellite, the lab transitioned to concentrating on robotic space explorers, and Casani segued from missiles to spacecraft.
One of his jobs as payload engineer on Pioneer 3 and 4, NASA’s first missions to the Moon, was to carry each of the 20-inch-long (51-cm-long) probes in a suitcase from JPL to the launch site at Cape Canaveral, Florida, where he installed them in the rocket’s nose cone.
At the dawn of the 1960s, Casani served as spacecraft systems engineer for the agency’s first two Ranger missions to the Moon, then joined the Mariner project in 1965, earning a reputation for being meticulous. Four years later, he was Mariner project manager.
Asked to share some of his wisdom in a 2009 NASA presentation, Casani said, “The thing that makes any of this work … is toughness. Toughness because this is a tough business, and it’s a very unforgiving business. You can do 1,000 things right, but if you don’t do everything right, it’ll come back and bite you.”
Casani’s next role: project manager for NASA’s high-profile flagship mission to the outer planets and beyond — Voyager. He not only led the mission from clean room to space, he was first to envision attaching a message representing humanity to any alien civilization that might encounter humanity’s first interstellar emissaries.
“I approached Carl Sagan,” he said in a 2007 radio interview, “and asked him if he could come up with something that would be appropriate that we could put on our spacecraft in a way of sending a message to whoever might receive it.” Sagan took up the challenge, and what resulted was the Golden Record, a 12-inch gold-plated copper disk containing sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth.
Once Voyager 1 and 2 and their Golden Records launched in 1977, JPL wasted no time in pointing their “engineer’s engineer” toward Galileo, which would become the first mission to orbit a gas giant planet. As the mission’s initial project manager, Casani led the effort from inception to assembly. Along the way, he had to navigate several congressional attempts to end the project, necessitating multiple visits to Washington. The 1986 loss of Space Shuttle Challenger, from which Galileo was to launch atop a Centaur upper-stage booster, led to mission redesign efforts before its 1989 launch.
After 11 years leading Galileo, Casani became deputy assistant laboratory director for flight projects in 1988, received a promotion just over a year later and then, from 1990 to 1991, served as project manager of Cassini, NASA’s first flagship mission to orbit Saturn.
Casani became JPL’s first chief engineer in 1994, retiring in 1999 and serving on several nationally prominent committees, including leading the investigation boards of both the Mars Climate Orbiter and the Mars Polar Lander failures, and also leading the James Webb Space Telescope Independent Comprehensive Review Panel.
In early 2003, Casani returned to JPL to serve as project manager for NASA’s Project Prometheus, which would have been the nation’s first nuclear-powered, electric-propulsion spacecraft. In 2005, he became manager of the Institutional Special Projects Office at JPL, a position he held until retiring again in 2012.
“Throughout his career, John reflected the true spirit of JPL: bold, innovative, visionary, and welcoming,” said Charles Elachi, JPL’s director from 2001 to 2016. “He was an undisputed leader with an upbeat, fun attitude and left an indelible mark on the laboratory and NASA. I am proud to have called him a friend.”
Casani received many awards over his lifetime, including NASA’s Exceptional Achievement Medal, the Management Improvement Award from the President of the United States for the Mariner Venus Mercury mission, and the Air and Space Museum Trophy for Lifetime Achievement.
News Media Contacts
Matthew Segal / Veronica McGregor
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-8307 / 818-354-9452
matthew.j.segal@jpl.nasa.gov / veronica.c.mcgregor@jpl.nasa.gov
Share
Details
Last Updated Jun 25, 2025 Related Terms
Jet Propulsion Laboratory Explore More
6 min read NASA’s Perseverance Rover Scours Mars for Science
Article 2 hours ago 5 min read NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover Starts Unpacking Boxwork Formations
Article 2 days ago 4 min read NASA Mars Orbiter Captures Volcano Peeking Above Morning Cloud Tops
Article 3 weeks ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics
Missions
Humans in Space
Climate Change
Solar System
View the full article
-
By European Space Agency
Astronomers have discovered a huge filament of hot gas bridging four galaxy clusters. At 10 times as massive as our galaxy, the thread could contain some of the Universe’s ‘missing’ matter, addressing a decades-long mystery.
View the full article
-
-
Check out these Videos
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.