Guion guy bluford biography

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A veteran of three space flights, Bluford was a mission specialist on STS-8 in 1983, STS 61-A in 1985, and STS-39 in 1991. Period: 91.00 min. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. After completing 111 Earth orbits in 169 hours, Challenger landed at Edwards Air Force Base on November 6, 1985.

Bluford has written and presented several scientific papers in the area of computational fluid dynamics.

He has logged more than 5,200 hours jet flight time in the T-33, T-37, T-38, F-4C, F-15, U-2/TR-1 and F-5A/B, including 1,300 hours as a T-38 instructor pilot. Bluford completed three more NASA missions, compiling 688 hours in space by the time of his retirement in 1993.

Early Life and Career

Guion Stewart Bluford Jr.

was born on November 22, 1942, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Flight: STS-53. Type: Manned spaceplane. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC39A. Spacecraft Bus: Shuttle. The experimental test facilities used included melting, solidification, and crystal growing furnaces, facilities for the observation of fluid physics phenomena, chambers to provide specific environmental conditions for biological samples, and a vestibular sled.

Projects: STS. Agency: USAF. He then went to F-4C combat crew training in Arizona and Florida and was assigned to the 557th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam. He enrolled at Pennsylvania State University as a member of the U.S. Air Force ROTC program and graduated in 1964 with a degree in aerospace engineering.

EDUCATION: Graduated from Overbrook Senior High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1960; received a bachelor of science degree in aerospace engineering from the Pennsylvania State University in 1964; a master of science degree with distinction in aerospace engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology in 1974; a doctor of philosophy in aerospace engineering with a minor in laser physics from the Air Force Institute of Technology in 1978, and a master in business administration from the University of Houston, Clear Lake, in 1987.

Flight: STS-8. Spacecraft: Discovery. Apogee: 376 km (233 mi).

He has logged over 5,100 hours jet flight time in the T-33, T-37, T-38, F-4C, F-15, U-2/TR-1, and F-5A/B, including 1,300 hours as a T-38 instructor pilot. Duration: 7.31 days. Perigee: 248 km (154 mi).