Throughout February, the San Diego Air & Space Museum will be honoring Black History Month by focusing on important African American men and women in the fields of air and space exploration, science, technology, engineering and math. Recently, the Museum’s Library & Archives launched a special new online exhibit about Norman Howard Casson.

Although a classically trained pianist and big-band conductor, Norman Howard Casson enjoyed a highly successful six-decade career in aerospace engineering. Casson has often been recognized for his service as a Launch Test Conductor for the Titan I Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, and later, the Titan II, but he is best known for his significant contributions to the success of the nation’s lunar landing program, the Apollo Project. The Apollo Spacecraft Checkout Group, headed by Casson, did their part to not only meet but beat the goal put forth by President John F. Kennedy, when he challenged our country to commit to the goal of landing a man on the moon and returning him back safely to earth before the end of the decade of the 1960s. Norman Casson played a significant role in meeting that goal.

Click here to view the new online exhibit and to learn more about Norman Casson.