Who Was The Worlds First Black Astronaut?
Who Was The Worlds First Black Astronaut?
When most people think of the first black astronaut they think of Col. Guion “Guy” Bluford Jr. But there was one astronaut who came before Bluford and has been largely forgotten by history. Maj. Robert H. Lawrence Jr. a distinguished test and fighter pilot was one of the first to be selected for the Air Force’s Manned Orbiting Laboratory Program which was the precursor to the NASA Space Shuttle Program.
On Dec. 8 1967 only months after being selected to the prestigious MOL unit the F104 Starfighter jet in which he was a copilot crashed during a training flight at Edwards AFB Calif.
During the flight Lawrence was performing maneuvers to gather data for use in future manned space flight programs.
At the time the Air Force had it own objectives for space exploration that differed from NASA’s. The MOL pilots had a rigorous standard of aerospace flight education and proficiency equal to the NASA standards.
However Lawrence and the rest of the MOL participants were not officially recognized as “astronauts.” The evolution of the MOL and NASA programs combined with differences in terminology and the passage of time delayed appropriate recognition of Lawrence as an astronaut and true aerospace pioneer.
In 1997 the Air Force reviewed the issue and formally recognized Lawrence’s status as an “astronaut” qualifying him for an appropriate memorial.
The Astronauts Memorial Foundation quickly and unanimously voted to honor Lawrence adding his name to the 16 others who gave their lives for America’s space program on the Space Mirror Memorial located at Cocoa Beach. The AMF board felt it appropriate to formally honor Lawrence on the 30th anniversary of his fatal accident.
Although Lawrence never actually flew in space his contributions to the space program made it possible for the development of space shuttle. He made the ultimate sacrifice and lost his life in the service of the nation and its space program.
About the writer: Virgil W. Magee is the Deputy Director of Media Analysis for Strategic Communications for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s International Security Assistance Force in Kabul Afghanistan. In his position he is responsible for the identification and analysis of local regional and global media trends pertaining to multinational ISAF and North Atlantic Treaty Organizations NATO alliance missions and strategic objectives for 42 partner nation defense and foreign affairs ministeriallevel organizations NATO and United Nations mandated missions.
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