Bluford, Guion S, Jr.

Bluford, Guion S(tewart), Jr.

(born Nov. 22, 1942, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.) U.S. astronaut. He flew 144 combat missions in the Vietnam War; on his return, he received a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology. He joined NASA's astronaut program in 1978 and flew on numerous space-shuttle missions; his first was Challenger's third flight (1983), the first to be launched and land at night. He was the first African American to fly in space.