John Elmer Blaha (born August 26, 1942, in San Antonio, Texas) is a retired United States Air Force colonel and a former NASA astronaut.

In 1973, he was assigned as a test pilot working with the Royal Air Force at the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment, Boscombe Down, United Kingdom.

During a three-year tour, he flew stability/control, performance, spin, and weapons delivery flight tests in the SEPECAT Jaguar, Blackburn Buccaneer, BAE Hawk, and BAC Jet Provost aircraft.

After graduation, he was assigned to work for the Assistant Chief of Staff, Studies and Analyses, at Headquarters USAF in the Pentagon.

Additionally, he led the development of contingency abort procedures which significantly improve crew survivability in the event of multiple main engine failures during ascent.

He has logged more than 7,000 hours of flying time in 34 different aircraft, and has written numerous technical articles on spacecraft performance and control.

Blaha retired from NASA in September 1997 to return to his hometown of San Antonio, Texas, where he joined the executive management team of the United Services Automobile Association.

[5]: 2.35  The Discovery completed its mission objectives and returned to Earth, landing on November 28, 1989, at Edwards Air Force Base on Runway 22.

In addition to the deployment of TDRS-E,[9] the STS-43 crew conducted various secondary payloads and experiments, which contributed to advancements in a range of scientific fields.

[5] The Columbia completed its mission by landing on November 1, 1993, at 15:05:42 UTC at the Edwards Air Force Base, touching down on Runway 22.