By Rayna Reid Rayford ·Updated August 30, 2023
Forty years ago, Guion “Guy” Stewart Bluford II became the first Black astronaut to go to space as “a crew member aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger when it launched from Kennedy Space Station on its third mission.”
Of note, Bluford was a member of the groundbreaking class of 1978 astronauts. “Of the 35 spaceflyers selected, three were African-Americans, and six were
