Millions of children have grown up playing with the Super Soaker, one of the best-selling water toys ever created. But few realize its inventor, Lonnie Johnson, is also an accomplished aerospace engineer whose career includes work at NASA and the U.S. Air Force.
Johnson’s breakthrough came by accident while experimenting with a new environmentally friendly heat pump in his home workshop during the 1980s. While testing one of the prototype’s components, a stream of water shot forcefully across the room. Instead of dismissing the mishap, Johnson immediately recognized its potential as the basis for a completely new type of water gun. He spent several years refining the design before licensing the invention to toy manufacturer Larami Corporation, which released it in 1990 under the name Power Drencher. After Hasbro acquired Larami, the toy was rebranded as the Super Soaker, becoming a worldwide phenomenon.
The Super Soaker revolutionized water toys by replacing the small squeeze mechanisms used in traditional water pistols with a pressurized air reservoir capable of firing powerful, long-range streams of water. The innovation made it an instant hit, and over the years the product line generated more than $1 billion in retail sales, making it one of the most successful toy franchises ever created.
Long before becoming famous in the toy industry, Johnson had already built an impressive engineering career. At NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, he worked on spacecraft systems for the Galileo mission, which successfully explored Jupiter and its moons. He also worked for the U.S. Air Force on advanced military technologies, including projects related to stealth systems.
Johnson didn’t stop after the Super Soaker’s success. He used the royalties from the toy to fund research into advanced batteries, renewable energy, and the Johnson Thermoelectric Energy Converter (JTEC), a technology designed to convert heat directly into electricity with high efficiency. He has been awarded more than 100 U.S. patents, reflecting a career dedicated to innovation far beyond the toy aisle.