First Black Person In Space

Is an american aerospace engineer retired u s.
First black person in space. Became the first black astronaut in 1967 when he joined the manned orbital laboratory program a sort of spy in the sky idea. Before becoming an astronaut he was an officer in the u s. Guion stewart bluford jr. Air force lieutenant colonel guion s.
He served in the air force until his astronaut selection in 1978 as a space shuttle astronaut. Bluford becomes the first african american to travel into space when the space shuttle challenger lifts off on its third mission. Though he never flew to space either robert henry lawrence jr. With multiple degrees in aerospace engineering bluford was chosen to participate in the nasa astronaut training program in 1978 and became the first black person in space as a crew member of the.
Air force officer and fighter pilot and former nasa astronaut who is the first african american and the second person of african descent to go to space. In 1983 as a member of the crew of the orbiter challenger. Guy bluford became the first african american in space on aug. Air force where he remained while assigned to nasa rising to the rank of colonel.
Updated january 19 2018. Often told people he didn t join nasa just to become the first black man to fly to orbit but of course that was part of his story. Guion guy bluford jr. It was the first night.
Nasa did not launch the first black person into space the soviet union beat the us space agency by three years. He participated in four space shuttle flights between 1983 and 1992. America s first african american in space brought out crowds of people to watch as he embarked on a history making flight to space on august 30 1983. Frederick gregory 1941 became the first african american to pilot a spacecraft when he launched aboard the space shuttle challenger on april 29 1985.