Lonnie George Johnson (born October 6, 1949) is an African American inventor, aerospace engineer, and entrepreneur, whose work includes a U.S. Air Force-term of service and a twelve-year stint at NASA, where he worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He invented the Super Soaker water gun in 1990, which has been among the world's bestselling toys ever since. He also invented the Nerf Gun when he patented "a pneumatic launcher for a toy projectile" which revolutionised toy blasters.