born Nov. 22, 1942, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.
U.S. astronaut.
He flew 144 combat missions in the Vietnam War; on his return, he received a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology. He joined NASA's astronaut program in 1978 and flew on numerous space-shuttle missions; his first was Challenger 's third flight (1983), the first to be launched and land at night. He was the first African American to fly in space.