Guion Bluford (born 1942), American astronaut and aerospace engineer. Bluford was the first African-American astronaut. He has flown as an astronaut on four Space Shuttle program missions: STS-8, STS-61-A, STS-39 and STS-53. His first mission was STS-8 mission in 1983. He is a retired US airforce pilot and fighter pilot. Bluford has a doctorate in aerospace engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology, Ohio, USA. Photographed on 23rd October 1992.