diff --git a/src/_posts/2023-08-30-488753.md b/src/_posts/2023-08-30-488753.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..71f1581 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/_posts/2023-08-30-488753.md @@ -0,0 +1,18 @@ +---json +{ + "date": "2023-08-30T09:00:00-04:00", + "title": "Guy Bluford, the First African American in Space", + "canonicalUrl": "https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/guy-bluford-the-first-african-american-in-space", + "imageUrl": "https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/83hc597.jpg", + "imageAlt": "Astronaut Guion S. Bluford, mission specialist, checks out the sample pump on the continuous flow electrophoresis system (CFES) experiment in the mid deck of the Earth-orbiting space shuttle Challenger on Space Transportation System-8 mission.", + "author": "Monika Luabeya" +} +--- + +In this image from Sept. 5, 1983, [Guion “Guy” Bluford](https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/bluford_guion.pdf) checks out the sample pump on the continuous flow electrophoresis system (CFES) experiment in the middeck of the Earth-orbiting space shuttle Challenger. + +Forty years ago today, he launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, becoming the first African American to fly in space. Bluford was a member of NASA's ["Thirty-Five New Guys"](https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/1978-astronaut-class) – the 1978 astronaut class, which had the first African American, the first Asian American, and the first women astronauts. + +During the STS-8 mission, the crew deployed the Indian National Satellite INSAT-1B, operated the Canadian-built Remote Manipulator System with the Payload Flight Test Article, operated the CFES, conducted medical measurements to understand biophysiological effects of spaceflight, and activated four [“Getaway Special”](https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19790050256) canisters. STS-8 completed 98 orbits of the Earth in 145 hours before landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on Sept. 5, 1983. + +_Image Credit: NASA_