Guion Bluford

Happy Birthday Guion Bluford! The aerospace engineer and former NASA astronaut was born in Philadelphia in 1942. After obtaining his bachelor’s degree from Penn State University, he attended pilot training and flew 144 combat missions for the US Air Force, many over North Vietnam. He then earned a PhD in aerospace engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology and published several papers on computational fluid dynamics. In 1979 Bluford became a NASA astronaut. On 30 August 1983 he became the first African American to go into space when he launched aboard the space shuttle Challenger. Bluford logged more than 688 hours in space over four missions, performing experiments on Spacelab and conducting research for the military. Since leaving NASA in 1993, he has taken leadership roles at several aerospace companies.

Date in History: 22 November 1942