GUION S. BLUFORD, JR. PH.D (COLONEL, USAF, RET.) 

NASA ASTRONAUT (FORMER)

PERSONAL DATA: Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on November 22, 1942. 

Married to the former Linda Tull of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They have two grown 

children. Hobbies include reading, swimming, jogging, racquetball, handball, scuba 

diving and golf.

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. He has also attended the University of 

Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business.

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS: Fellow, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics; Board of Governors, National 

Space Club ( 1997 to 2001); Board of Directors, National Inventor’s Hall of Fame Foundation (1997 to 2002); Board of Directors, 

The Western Reserve Historical Society (1997 to 2003); Board of Directors, The Great Lakes Science Center (1997 to 2003); 

National Research Council (NRC) Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board, (1993 to 1998); Board of Directors, American 

Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, (1995 to 2001); Board of Directors, U.S. Space Foundation (2000 to 2006); Life 

Director; Board of Directors, ENSCO Inc., (2005 to present); Board of Trustees, The Aerospace Corporation (1999 to 2008); 

Executive Director of Investigative Activities, Columbia Accident Investigation Board (2003); Society of Distinguished Alumni, 

Pennsylvania State University (1986 to present); Committee on Minority Activities, College of Engineering, Pennsylvania State 

University (1986 to 2006); Leadership Cleveland (1995 to present); Board of Visitors, Hiram College, (2004 to 2009); Board of 

Advisors, Coalition for Space Exploration (2006 to 2010); Penn State Presidential Counselor (2018-present); Tau Beta Pi;

Omicron Delta Kappa; Sigma Iota Epsilon; National Technical Association and Tuskegee Airmen.

SPECIAL HONORS: Presented the Leadership Award of Phi Delta Kappa (1962); the National Defense Service Medal (1965); 

the Vietnam Campaign Medal (1967); the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm (1967); the Vietnam Service Medal (1967); Ten 

Air Force Air Medals (1967); Three Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards (1967, 1970 and 1972); the German Air Force Aviation 

Badge from the Federal Republic of West Germany (1969); the T-38 Instructor Pilot of the Month (1970); the Air Training 

Command Outstanding Flight Safety Award (1970); the Air Force Commendation Medal (1972); the Air Force Institute of 

Technology’s Mervin E. Gross Award (1974); Who’s Who Among Black Americans (1975 to 1977); the Air Force Meritorious 

Service Award (1978); the National Society of Black Engineers Distinguished National Scientist Award (1979); four NASA 

Group Achievement Awards (1980, 1981, 1989, and 2003); the Pennsylvania State University Alumni Association’s 

Distinguished Alumni Award (1983), the Alumni Fellows Award (1986); the USAF Command Pilot Astronaut Wings (1983); 

NASA Space Flight Medals (1983, 1985, 1991 and 1992); the Ebony Black Achievement Award (1983); NAACP Image Award 

(1983); the City of Philadelphia’s Philadelphia Bowl (1983); Who’s Who in America (1983 to present); the Pennsylvania 

Distinguished Service Medal (1984); the Defense Superior Service Medal (1984); three Defense Meritorious Service Medals 

(1986, 1992 and 1993); New York City Urban League’s Whitney Young Memorial Award; 1991 Black Engineer of the Year 

Award; NASA Exceptional Service Medal (1992); National Intelligence Medal of Achievement (1993); Federation Aeronautique 

International Komarov Diploma (1993); Legion of Merit (1993); NASA Distinguished Service Medal (1994); International Space 

Hall of Fame inductee (1997); U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame inductee (2010); National Aviation Hall of Fame inductee (2019); Air 

Force Institute of Technology Distinguished Alumni Award (2002); University of Houston, Clear Lake Distinguished Alumni 

Award (2003); Pennsylvania Society Gold Medal (2011) and honorary doctorate degrees from Florida A&M University, Texas 

Southern University, Virginia State 

National Aeronautics and

Space Administration

May 2019

Biographical Data

 Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center

 Houston, Texas 77058
University, Morgan State University, Stevens Institute of Technology, Tuskegee Institute, Bowie State College, Thomas Jefferson 

University, Chicago State University, Georgian Court College, Drexel University, Kent State University, Central State University

and the University of the Sciences.

EXPERIENCE: Bluford graduated from Penn State University in 1964 as a distinguished Air Force ROTC graduate.

He attended pilot training at Williams Air Force Base, Arizona, and received his pilot wings in January 1966. 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 flew 144 combat missions, 65 of which were over North Vietnam.

In July 1967, he was assigned to the 3630th Flying Training Wing, Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, as a T-38A instructor pilot. 

He served as a standardization/evaluation officer and as an assistant flight commander. In early 1971, he attended Squadron 

Officers School and returned as an executive support officer to the Deputy Commander of Operations and as School Secretary for 

the Wing.

In August 1972, he entered the Air Force Institute of Technology residency school at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. 

Upon graduating in 1974, he was assigned to the Air Force Flight Dynamics Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, 

Ohio, as a staff development engineer. He served as deputy for advanced concepts for the Aeromechanics Division and as branch 

chief of the Aerodynamics and Airframe Branch in the Laboratory. 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. He also has an FAA commercial pilot license and is a certified scuba diver.

Bluford left NASA in July 1993 and retired from the Air Force to take the post of vice president/general manager, Engineering 

Services Division, NYMA Inc., Greenbelt, Maryland. In May, 1997, he became vice president of the Aerospace Sector of Federal 

Data Corporation and, in October, 2000, Bluford became the vice president of Microgravity R&D and Operations for the 

Northrop Grumman Corporation. In September 2002, he became president of the Aerospace Technology Group, an engineering 

consulting organization in Cleveland, Ohio. 

NASA EXPERIENCE: Bluford became a NASA astronaut in August 1979. His technical assignments have included working 

with space station operations, the Remote Manipulator System (RMS), Spacelab systems and experiments, space shuttle systems, 

payload safety issues and verifying flight software in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL) and in the Flight 

Systems Laboratory (FSL). A veteran of four space flights, Bluford was a mission specialist on STS-8, STS 61-A, STS-39 and 

STS-53. 

Bluford’s first mission was STS-8, which launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on August 30, 1983. This was the third 

flight for the orbiter Challenger and the first mission with a night launch and night landing. During the mission, the STS-8 crew 

deployed the Indian National Satellite (INSAT-1B), operated the Canadian-built RMS with the Payload Flight Test Article 

(PFTA), operated the Continuous Flow Electrophoresis System (CFES) with live cell samples, conducted medical measurements 

to understand biophysiological effects of spaceflight and activated four “Getaway Special” canisters. STS-8 completed 98 orbits 

of the Earth in 145 hours before landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on September 5, 1983.

Bluford then served on the crew of STS 61-A, the German D-1 Spacelab mission, which launched from Kennedy Space Center, 

Florida, on October 30, 1985. This mission was the first to carry eight crew members, the largest crew to fly in space, and 

included three European payload specialists. This was the first dedicated Spacelab mission under the direction of the German

Aerospace Research Establishment (DFVLR) and the first U.S. mission in which payload control was transferred to a foreign 

country (German Space Operations Center, Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany). During the mission, the Global Low Orbiting Message 

Relay Satellite (GLOMR) was deployed from a “Getaway Special” (GAS) container, and 76 experiments were performed in 

Spacelab in such fields as fluid physics, materials processing, life sciences, and navigation. After completing 111 orbits of the 

Earth in 169 hours, Challenger landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on November 6, 1985.

Bluford also served on the crew of STS-39, which launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on April 28, 1991, aboard 

the orbiter Discovery. The crew gathered aurora, Earth-limb, celestial, and shuttle environment data with the AFP-675 payload. 

This payload consisted of the Cryogenic Infrared Radiance Instrumentation for Shuttle (CIRRIS-1A) experiment, Far Ultraviolet 

Camera experiment (FAR UV), the Uniformly Redundant Array (URA), the Quadrupole Ion Neutral Mass 
Spectrometer (QINMS), and the Horizon Ultraviolet Program (HUP) experiment. The crew also deployed and retrieved the 

SPAS-II which carried the Infrared Background Signature Survey (IBSS) experiment. The crew also operated the Space Test 

Payload-1 (STP-1) and deployed a classified payload from the Multi-Purpose Experiment Canister (MPEC). After completing 

134 orbits of the Earth and 199 hours in space, Discovery landed at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on May 6, 1991.

On his last flight, Bluford served on the crew of STS-53 which launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on December 2, 

1992. The crew of five deployed the classified Department of Defense payload DOD-1 and then performed several MilitaryMan-in-Space and NASA experiments. After completing 115 orbits of the Earth in 175 hours, Discovery landed at Edwards Air 

Force Base, California, on December 9, 1992.

With the completion of his fourth flight, Bluford has logged over 688 hours in space.

This is only version available from NASA. Updates must be sought direct from the above named individual.