Guion Bluford

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Astronaut profile

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Selection date:August, 1979

Related Topics:
August - 1979

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Position:Mission Specialist

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Retirement date:July, 1993

Related Topics:
July - 1993

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Time in space:28/16:33

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Missions

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STS-8, STS-61-A, STS-39, STS-53

Related Topics:
STS-8 - STS-61-A - STS-39 - STS-53

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Guion S. Bluford, Junior (born November 22, 1942) is a retired Colonel, from the United States Air Force and a former NASA Astronaut. He participated in four flights of Space Shuttle between 1983 and 1992. In 1983, as a member of the crew of the space shuttle Challenger on mission STS-8, Bluford became the first African-American in space.

Related Topics:
November 22 - 1942 - United States Air Force - NASA - Astronaut - Space Shuttle - ''Challenger'' - STS-8 - African-American

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Bluford was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He received a BS in aerospace engineering from the Pennsylvania State University in 1964; a MS in aerospace engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology in 1974; a PhD in aerospace engineering with a minor in laser physics from the Air Force Institute of Technology in 1978, and a MBA from the University of Houston, Clear Lake in 1987.

Related Topics:
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - BS - Aerospace engineering - Pennsylvania State University - 1964 - MS - Air Force Institute of Technology - PhD - Laser - MBA - University of Houston, Clear Lake

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Prior to becoming an astronaut, he attended pilot training at Williams Air Force Base, Arizona, and received his pilot wings in January 1966. He then went to F-4C combat crew training in Arizona and Florida and was assigned to the 557th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam. He flew 144 combat missions, 65 of which were over North Vietnam.

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In July 1967, he was assigned to the 3,630th Flying Training Wing, Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, as a T-38A instructor pilot. He served as a standardization/evaluation officer and as an assistant flight commander. In early 1971, he attended Squadron Officers School and returned as an executive support officer to the Deputy Commander of Operations and as School Secretary for the Wing.

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In August 1972, he entered the Air Force Institute of Technology residency school at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. Upon graduating in 1974, he was assigned to the Air Force Flight Dynamics Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, as a staff development engineer. He served as deputy for advanced concepts for the Aeromechanics Division and as branch chief of the Aerodynamics and Airframe Branch in the Laboratory. Bluford has written and presented several scientific papers in the area of computational fluid dynamics.

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