Robert Lawrence
Selected as the first African-American astronaut, but tragically died before he could reach space
In June 1967 Major Robert H. Lawrence Jr. was selected as the first African-American astronaut by any national space program. Unfortunately this is a story that doesn’t have a happy ending. Tragedy struck, and Lawrence was never able to make his ascent into space.
Born in Chicago, Illinois, on 2 October 1935, Lawrence was a bright young man, receiving a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois, at the age of 20. He then moved swiftly into the United States Air Force (USAF) as an officer and pilot. While completing over 2,500 hours of flight – 2,000 of these in jets – as an officer of the USAF, he also gained a PhD in physical chemistry from Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, in 1965.
Between 1963 and 1969 – the latter of which saw humans first step foot on the Moon – the USAF and the National Reconnaissance Office were working on a partially classified project referred to as the Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL). This project planned to put small space stations into low polar orbits, which were going to be occupied by two people for 30 days at a time. The method of transportation between the ground and these space stations was going to be modified Gemini capsules.
The MOL project was intended to aid the military. It would essentially be used for espionage activities concerning the nation’s
Cold War adversaries, collecting high-resolution photographic imagery in the process. Lawrence was chosen as a member of the third group of aerospace research pilots in 1967, making him the first African-American chosen to become an astronaut and also making him the only MOL astronaut candidate with a doctorate.
Sadly Lawrence perished on 8 December 1967 as he participated in a test flight with another pilot in an F-104 Starfighter supersonic jet. They were testing landing manoeuvres that would later be used in the Space Shuttle program. When the MOL program was cancelled due to budgetary constraints in 1969, seven astronauts under the age of 35, which would have included Lawrence, transferred to NASA and later flew on Space Shuttle missions. They have henceforth been known as NASA Astronaut Group 7.
Due to the semi-secret nature of the MOL program, Lawrence’s achievements, involvement and untimely death went unknown to a large majority of the population for many years. It wasn’t until the 1990s when these secrets were disclosed in order to “overcome bureaucratic barriers over the definition of an astronaut”.
Many touching tributes to him have been made ever since, which is a testament to what an important American space pioneer he was. In September 1997, on the Space Shuttle Atlantis mission STS-86, the MOL mission patch was sent into space with the Space Shuttle crew. On the 30th anniversary of Lawrence’s death his name was carved into the Astronauts Memorial Foundation Space Mirror at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. On the 50th anniversary of his death Lawrence was honoured by several of NASA’s most prestigious figures at the time in a moving ceremony.
“Lawrence was chosen as a member of the third group of aerospace research pilots in 1967”