1942-

American astronaut who was the first African American in space. Bluford graduated from Pennsylvania State University and then served as a U.S. Air Force pilot in Vietnam. He earned an aerospace engineering doctorate from the Air Force Institute of Technology, and served as a mission specialist on a 1983 space shuttle flight. Two years later, he conducted scientific experiments aboard Spacelab. He flew twice again in the 1990s, deploying military and commercial satellites. After retiring from NASA, Bluford became an engineering executive.