The inventor of the Super Soaker squirt gun was a NASA Scientist who also helped develop the Stealth Bomber and the Galileo mission to Jupiter.
The NASA Engineer Who Invented the Super Soaker
Lonnie George Johnson didn't set out to create one of the most iconic toys of the 20th century. In 1982, while working as an aerospace engineer, he was tinkering with a heat pump experiment in his bathroom when a powerful stream of water shot across the room. That moment of serendipity would eventually generate over $1 billion in sales and transform backyard water fights forever.
But the Super Soaker was just a side project for a man who spent his days working on some of the most advanced technology of the Cold War era.
From Nuclear Power to Water Power
Johnson joined NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 1979 with dual degrees in mechanical and nuclear engineering from Tuskegee University. His assignment? Help develop the nuclear power source for the Galileo mission, an ambitious project to send an unmanned spacecraft to Jupiter. The mission launched in 1989 and successfully reached Jupiter in 1995, sending back groundbreaking data about the gas giant and its moons.
Between his two stints at NASA, Johnson returned to the Air Force in 1982, where he made history as the first flight test engineer assigned by Strategic Air Command to the B-2 Stealth Bomber program at Edwards Air Force Base. He worked on one of the most secretive and technologically advanced aircraft ever developed, helping test components for a plane that wouldn't be publicly revealed until 1988.
The Accidental Billion-Dollar Idea
All the while, Johnson's bathroom experiment kept nagging at him. He realized that his pressurized water stream could be the basis for a superior water gun. He hand-built prototypes from PVC pipe, Plexiglas, and other materials, eventually creating a weapon that could shoot water over 40 feet—far beyond any squirt gun on the market.
After years of pitching his invention to toy companies, Johnson finally partnered with Larami Corporation in 1989. The Super Soaker launched in 1990 and became an instant phenomenon. By 1991, it generated $200 million in sales. The toy has since sold hundreds of millions of units worldwide, with Johnson earning royalties that funded his later inventions.
250 Patents and Counting
Johnson holds over 250 patents, though most are related to the Super Soaker and its iterations. He's used his toy fortune to fund Johnson Research & Development, focusing on energy technology including advanced battery systems and heat engines. His Johnson Thermoelectric Energy Converter (JTEC) aims to create more efficient power generation.
In 2022, Johnson was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, recognition that places him alongside Thomas Edison and the Wright Brothers. Not bad for someone who just wanted to build a better heat pump.