Guion Bluford
American - (NASA)
Retired
Date of Birth: Nov. 22, 1942
Age: 83
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
Starlink Group 17-51
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USAA batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
Starship
Flight 13
Orbital Launch Pad 2 - SpaceX Starbase, TX, USA13th test flight of the two-stage Starship launch vehicle. Second flight of Starship V3. For the first time, Starship will carry 20 V3 Starlink sa…
Kinetica 1
5 satellites
Launch Area 130 - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of ChinaShare-ride of 5 commercial Earth observation and technology demonstration satellites to SSO, including SpaceTY's TY-48. Details TBD.
Long March 3B/E
Tianlian 2-06
Launch Complex 2 (LC-2) - Xichang Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of ChinaTianlian is a Chinese data tracking and relay communications geostationary satellite series. The TL 2 (Tian Lian 2) satellites represent the second g…
Gravity-1
9 satellites
Yellow Sea (launch location 5) - Haiyang Oriental SpaceportCarried 9 satellites on a share-ride to sun-synchronous orbit. Details TBD.
