Space History Photo: Guion Bluford Experiences Weightlessness on the KC-135

Astronaut Guion S. Bluford and Aviation Safety Officer Charles F. Hayes get a unique perspective of the environment during a 1979 zero gravity flight. Credit: NASA.

In this historical photo from the U.S. space agency, Astronaut Guion S. Bluford and Aviation Safety Officer Charles F. Hayes got a unique perspective of their environment during a zero gravity flight. They are aboard a KC-135 aircraft, also known as the vomit comet, which flies a special parabolic pattern repeatedly to afford a series of 30-seconds-of-weightlessness sessions.

Bluford and Hayes are being assisted by C.P. Stanley of the photography branch of the photographic technology division at JSC. Some medical studies and motion sickness experiments were conducted on this particular flight. Bluford is one of 20 scientist astronauts who began training at JSC in July 1978.

Each weekday, SPACE.com looks back at the history of spaceflight through photos (archive).