Guion Stewart Bluford Jr. First African American in space?!?!?!?!

Of some 10,000 applicants to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) space program, Guion S. Bluford was one of 35 chosen to join the new space shuttle team in January 1978. He officially became a NASA astronaut in August 1979.

Bluford made history on August 30, 1983, when he became the first African American to experience space travel. Bluford was a specialist for mission STS-8 aboard the space shuttle Challenger, which took off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for its first night launch.