Guion S. Bluford, Jr., Ph.D.
Dr. Guion S. Bluford, Jr. (Colonel, USAF, Ret.), Air Force pilot and engineer, was the first African American to fly in space. During his 15 years in the Astronaut Program, he flew on four Space Shuttle missions.
As a mission specialist and flight engineer aboard STS-8, the first night launch and landing of the Space Shuttle, he assisted the commander and pilot in developing techniques for night time operations. Dr. Bluford also deployed the Indian National Satellite and operated the Continuous Flow Electrophoresis System.
In 1985, Dr. Bluford served as a mission specialist on STS-61A, and led the international on-orbit payload team in the training and on-orbit operations of 76 experiments in the German D-1 Spacelab.
In 1991, Dr. Bluford flew on STS-39, managing the operation of several experiments in support of the DOD Strategic Defense Initiative Office and then flew in 1992 on STS-53, a classified Space Shuttle flight
Dr Bluford has been a senior executive in several aerospace engineering organizations and has served on the boards of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), the National Research Council’s Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board, the Aerospace Corporation, and the Space Foundation. Currently, he is the President of the Aerospace Technology Group, in Cleveland, Ohio.
Guion S. Bluford, Jr. will be inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame on June 5, 2010.