Meet Robert Henry Lawrence Jr., The World's First Black Astronaut

Discussion in 'Race, Religion, Science and Politics' started by OckyDub, Oct 21, 2017.

  1. OckyDub

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    The long battle to have Robert Henry Lawrence Jr. recognized as the first black astronaut finally ended in 1997 when his name was added to the Space Mirror Memorial at the Kennedy Space Center — 30 years after his untimely death.

    Born in 1935, Lawrence graduated in the top 10 percent from Englewood High School in Chicago, earning him entrance into the prestigious Bradley University. It’s at Bradley where Lawrence began his journey to becoming an astronaut by enlisting into the Air Force ROTC and becoming a lieutenant colonel, making him the second highest ranking cadet at the school.

    After graduating in 1956 with a bachelor's degree in chemistry, Lawrence began attending flight school at Malden Air Force Base in Missouri, where he became a U.S. Air Force pilot. Over the next 10 years, Lawrence clocked over 2,500 hours of flight time as an instructor pilot in Germany.

    During his time in the Air Force, Lawrence tested the recently developed Lockheed F-104 Starfighter. His research during this time contributed to the development of the Space Shuttle — specifically, how to bring space shuttles back safely from orbit. Lawrence also earned his doctorate in physical chemistry from Ohio State University in 1965 and married his college sweetheart Barbara Cress.

    In June of 1967, after being denied twice by NASA, Lawrence became one of four men chosen for the Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) — and ultimately, space travel. Lawrence would have begun his space flight training in 1970, but he never got the chance.

    A few months later in December, Lawrence died during a training exercise at the age of 32. Lawrence sat in the backseat while instructing a trainee on the steep-descent glide technique that had helped Lawrence earn his spot as an astronaut. The trainee was unable to perform the maneuver successfully and crashed the jet. While both pilots were able to eject, only the trainee survived.

    For many years afterward, Lawrence was left out of the conversation when it came to space flight. His name was left off a memorial plaque that the Apollo 15 astronauts placed on the moon and from the memorial built at the Kennedy Space Center after the Challenger shuttle disaster. It’s not until 1997 that the Astronaut Memorial Foundation overturned their decision to not recognize Lawrence as an astronaut, ensuring his place in history.

    Although Robert Lawrence downplayed his position as the first black astronaut, it’s clear that he understood his role as a leader in not only the spaceflight community but also the African-American community.

    “This work is dedicated to those American Negroes who have spent their lives in the performance of menial tasks struggling to overcome both natural and man-made problems of survival. To such men and women, a scientific investigation would seem a grand abstraction. However, it has been their endeavors which have supplied both the wherewithal and motivation that initiated and helped sustain this effort.”


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