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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 America
Kennedy 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 Orbit
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Space Shuttle Challenger / OV-099 | STS-61-A

National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of America
Kennedy 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 Orbit
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Space Shuttle Discovery / OV-103 | STS-39

National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of America
Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
April 28, 1991, 11:33 a.m.
Status: Success
Mission:

STS-39 was the twelfth mission of the Space Shuttle Discovery and its primary purpose was to conduct a variety of payload experiments for the Department of Defence.

Low Earth Orbit
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Space Shuttle Discovery / OV-103 | STS-53

National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of America
Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
Dec. 2, 1992, 1:24 p.m.
Status: Success
Mission:

STS-53 was a Space Shuttle Discovery mission in support of the United States Department of Defense. The mission was launched on 2 December 1992 from Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

Low Earth Orbit
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Administrator: Bill Nelson

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.


Electron
Success
16 hours, 5 minutes ago
StriX Launch 6
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1B - Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand

Synthetic aperture radar satellites for Japanese Earth imaging company Synspective.


Falcon 9
Success
18 hours, 48 minutes ago
Bandwagon 2 (Dedicated Mid-Inclination Rideshare)
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

Dedicated rideshare flight to a mid-inclination orbit with dozens of small microsatellites and nanosatellites for commercial and government customers…


Long March 3
Success
1 day, 15 hours ago
TJSW-12
Launch Complex 2 (LC-2) - Xichang Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Chinese classified satellite claimed to be for communication technology test purposes. Actual mission not known.


Ceres-1S
Success
2 days, 20 hours ago
Tianqi 33-36
Oriental Spaceport mobile launch ship - Sea Launch

4 small satellites for LEO Internet of Things (IoT) communication purposes.


KAIROS
Failure
4 days, 4 hours ago
Flight 2
Space One Launch Pad - Spaceport Kii, Japan

Second flight of the KAIROS launch vehicle. 5 satellites for testing various technologies will be on board: * TATARA-1 * PARUS-T1A * SC-Sat1…