Guion Bluford

Guion Guy Stewart Bluford
Born
Guion Stewart Bluford Jr.

(1942-11-22) November 22, 1942 (age 81)
EducationPennsylvania State University (BS)
Air University (MS, PhD)
University of Houston (MBA)
Space career
NASA astronaut
RankColonel, USAF
Time in space
28d 16h 33m
SelectionNASA Group 8 (1978)
MissionsSTS-8
STS-61-A
STS-39
STS-53
Mission insignia

Guion Stewart Bluford Jr. (born November 22, 1942) is an American aerospace engineer, retired United States Air Force (USAF) officer and fighter pilot, and former NASA astronaut, in which capacity he became the first African American to go to space.[1][2][a] While assigned to NASA, he remained a USAF officer rising to the rank of colonel. He participated in four Space Shuttle flights between 1983 and 1992. In 1983, as a member of the crew of the Orbiter Challenger on the mission STS-8, he became the first African American in space as well as the second black person in space, after Cuban cosmonaut Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez.[3]

  1. ^ Launius, Roger D. (2004). Frontiers of Space Exploration. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 245. ISBN 978-0-313-32524-3. bluford first space.
  2. ^ Cox, Kate (October 30, 2019). "For All Mankind imagines a space race that leaves fewer people out". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  3. ^ Leahy, Anna; Dechow, Douglas R. (February 7, 2017). "What Everyone Gets Wrong about Black History in the Space Age". Scientific American. Archived from the original on June 16, 2020. Retrieved November 21, 2019.


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