Guion Bluford
American - (NASA)
Retired
Date of Birth: Nov. 22, 1942
Age: 82
Guion Stewart Bluford Jr., Ph.D. is an American aerospace engineer, retired U.S. Air Force officer and fighter pilot, and former NASA astronaut, who was the first African American in space.[1] Before becoming an astronaut, he was an officer in the U.S. Air Force, where he remained while assigned to NASA, 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 person of African ancestry in space, after Cuban cosmonaut Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez.
Space Shuttle Challenger / OV-099 | STS-8
National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of AmericaKennedy Space Center, FL, USA
Aug. 30, 1983, 6:32 a.m.
Status: Success
Mission:
STS-8 was the third mission of Space Shuttle Challenger. It deployed an Indian 10 and Weather satellite. It was the first night launch and night landing of the Shuttle program. It also carried the first African-American astronaut; Guion Bluford.
Low Earth OrbitSpace Shuttle Challenger / OV-099 | STS-61-A
National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of AmericaKennedy Space Center, FL, USA
Oct. 30, 1985, 5 p.m.
Status: Success
Mission:
STS-61-A was the twenty-second space shuttle flight and ninth for Space Shuttle Challenger. It was a scientific spacelab mission funded entirely by West Germany. The payload operations were controlled from the German Space Operations Center as opposed to the regular NASA centers.
Low Earth OrbitSpace Shuttle Discovery / OV-103 | STS-39
National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of AmericaKennedy Space Center, FL, USA
April 28, 1991, 11:33 a.m.
Space Shuttle Discovery / OV-103 | STS-53
National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of AmericaKennedy Space Center, FL, USA
Dec. 2, 1992, 1:24 p.m.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. NASA have many launch facilities but most are inactive. The most commonly used pad will be LC-39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Falcon 9
Project Kuiper (KF-02)
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USASecond of a three launches contract for Amazon's Kuiper low Earth orbit satellite internet constellation. 24 satellites are on board.
Smart Dragon 3
Geely Constellation Group 04
Oriental Spaceport mobile launch ship - Sea Launch11 LEO communications satellites for Chinese car manufacturer Geely Automotive for testing autonomous driving/inter-vehicle communication services. T…
Electron
The Harvest Goddess Thrives (iQPS Launch 4)
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1B - Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New ZealandSynthetic aperture radar Earth observation satellite for Japanese Earth imaging company iQPS.
Long March 12
SatNet LEO Group 07
Commercial LC-2 - Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of ChinaA batch of 9 Low Earth Orbit communication satellites for the Chinese state owned SatNet constellation operated by the China Satellite Network Group.…
Falcon 9
Starlink Group 10-30
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USAA batch of 28 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
