Robert Henry Lawrence Jr.

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox astronaut Robert Henry Lawrence Jr. (October 2, 1935 – December 8, 1967) was a United States Air Force officer and the first African-American who was selected to be an astronaut.<ref name="Register-Guard 1967 p1A">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Daily Chronicle 1967 p2">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="USAF">Template:Cite web</ref>

Early years

Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Lawrence attended Haines Elementary School and, at age sixteen, graduated in the top 10 percent from Englewood High School in 1952. Four years later in 1956, he graduated from Bradley University with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry. At Bradley, Lawrence became a member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and distinguished himself as Cadet Commander in the Air Force ROTC and received the commission of second lieutenant in the Air Force Reserve Program.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Air Force

Lawrence during his Air Force career

At the age of 21, he was designated as a U.S. Air Force pilot after completing flight training at Malden Air Force Base, Missouri.Template:Citation needed

At 22, he married Barbara Cress, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Henry Cress of Chicago. By the time he was 25, he had completed an Air Force assignment as an instructor pilot in the T-33 training aircraft for the German Air Force.Template:Citation needed

In 1965, Lawrence earned a PhD in physical chemistry from Ohio State University. His doctoral thesis was The Mechanism of the Tritium Beta Ray Induced Exchange Reaction of Deuterium with Methane and Ethane in the Gas Phase.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>The mechanism of the tritium beta-ray induced exchange reactions of deuterium with methane and ethane in the gas phase</ref>

He was a senior USAF pilot, accumulating well over 2,500 flight hours, 2,000 of which were in jets. Lawrence flew many tests in the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter to investigate the gliding flight of various unpowered spacecraft returning to Earth from orbit, such as the North American X-15 rocket-plane. NASA cited Lawrence for accomplishments and flight maneuver data that "contributed greatly to the development of the Space Shuttle."<ref name="USAF" />

Astronaut

In June 1967, Lawrence successfully completed the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School (Class 66B) at Edwards AFB, California. The same month, he was selected by the USAF as an astronaut in the Air Force's Manned Orbital Laboratory (MOL) program, thus becoming the country's first black astronaut.<ref name="Register-Guard 1967 p1A" /><ref name="Daily Chronicle 1967 p2" /><ref name="USAF" />

Lawrence and other MOL astronauts laughed when asked at the announcement "Will you have to sit in the back seat of the capsule?" When asked if his selection was historic for race relations in the United States, Lawrence answered "No, I don't think so. It's another one of those things that we look forward to in civil rights—normal progression." He said that he had faced problems like other black people, but, "Perhaps I have been more fortunate than the others in the opportunities." Donald H. Peterson, chosen for MOL with Lawrence, said, "I can't speak for all the people in Mississippi," but that he was not reluctant to work with a black man.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Lawrence's name inscribed on the Space Mirror Memorial

Death and legacy

At age 32, Lawrence was killed in a plane crash at Edwards AFB on December 8, 1967.<ref name="Register-Guard 1967 p1A" /> He was flying backseat in an F-104 as the instructor pilot for flight test trainee Major Harvey Royer, who was learning the steep-descent glide technique. Royer made such an approach but flared too late.Template:Citation needed

The airplane struck the ground hard, its main gear failed, it caught fire, and rolled. The canopy shattered and the plane bounced and skidded on the runway for Template:Convert. Major Royer ejected upward and survived, with major injuries. The back seat, which delays a moment to avoid hitting the front seat, ejected sideways, killing Lawrence instantly. He was still strapped to his ejector seat; his parachute failed to open and was dragged Template:Convert from the wreck.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Had Lawrence lived, he likely would have been among the MOL astronauts who became NASA Astronaut Group 7 after MOL's cancellation, all of whom flew on the Space Shuttle.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

During his brief career, Lawrence earned the Air Force Commendation Medal, the Outstanding Unit Citation. On December 8, 1997, his name was inscribed on the Space Mirror Memorial at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.<ref name="USAF" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

A sidewalk plaque honoring Lawrence, part of the Bronzeville Walk of Fame, can be found in his home town of Chicago, near the Victory Memorial on the median of Martin Luther King Drive near 35th Street.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The 13th Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft, which launched on February 15, 2020, was named the S.S. Robert H. Lawrence in his honor.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The artist Tavares Strachan dedicated his satellite sculpture ENOCH, launched in 2018, to Lawrence.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2020, NASA included Lawrence in a group of 27 pioneering African-American, Hispanic, and Native American astronauts to commemorate by naming asteroids after them. The asteroid, Robertlawrence 92892, is located in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In February 2025, Lawrence's alma mater, Bradley University, installed an art installation commemorating him.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

• Ed Dwight – The first African-American astronaut candidate

Further reading

• Template:Cite web

External links

• Biography of Robert Henry Lawrence Jr. from Spacefacts.de