Dr. Bluford was the first African American to fly in space in 1983. “Bluford became a NASA astronaut in August 1979. His technical assignments have included working with the Remote Manipulator System (RMS), Spacelab-3 experiments, Space Shuttle systems, verifying flight software in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL) and the Flight Systems Laboratory (FSL), and serving as the Astronaut Office point of contact for generic Spacelab and Shuttle External Tank issues. 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” and STS-53 in 1992. Dr. Bluford left NASA in July 1993 to take the post of Vice President/General Manager, Engineering Services Division. (source: https://er.jsc.nasa.gov/seh/bluford.htm)