Guion S. Bluford, Jr. became the first African American astronaut to travel into space in 1983.

Guion Bluford, Jr. made history on this day in 1983 when he blasted off aboard the space shuttle Challenger. The flight marked the first mission with a night launch and night landing, as well as the first mission to carry an African American astronaut into space. Bluford flew four flights with NASA, all as mission specialist. His second flight, which launched on October 30, 1985, was also a history-making flight. On that mission, the Challenger carried the largest crew to fly in space, with eight crew members on board. The mission was also the first U.S. mission in which control of the payload was given to another country (Germany). Bluford was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and holds numerous degrees, including a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology.

Xpeditions
Astronauts see amazing things, and the view from space is naturally different than the view from Earth. In The Riddle of the Russian Lights (K–12), students imagine that they are part of a space mission as they use maps to help an astronaut figure out why a string of lights zigzags across southern Russia.

Science NetLinks
In NASA’s quest to make space activity less costly so it can be done more often, the organization has been experimenting with making structures that are inflatable. Space Inflatables (6–12), a Science Update, provides students an opportunity to hear about some of these experiments, including an inflatable telescope.

The Science Update Faces in Space (6–12) discusses a proposed system to spot signs of burnout on marathon space flights. NASA is concerned that stress on long missions could affect the astronauts' performance.

EconEdLink
To Be or Not to Be? (3–5) guides students through Web sites that examine careers, such as that of an astronaut, that are typically of interest to third through fifth grade students.

Illuminations
Travel in the Solar System (6–8) affords students the opportunity to think about two aspects of the time required to complete space travel within the solar system–the amount of time that space travelers must spend on the journey and the kinds of events might occur on Earth while the space travelers are on their journey.