John D. Olivas Status: Retired 5/25/1966 – Nationality: American Type: Government Agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration John Daniel “Danny” Olivas is an American engineer and a former NASA astronaut. Olivas has flown on two space shuttle missions, STS-117 and STS-128. He performed EVAs on both missions, totaling 34hrs 28min. In 2013 Olivas joined the University of Texas at El Paso as Director of the Center for the Advancement of Space Safety and Mission Assurance Research (CASSMAR) and will oversee space initiatives on campus.