The Unsung Astronaut

MSNBC ^ | February 23, 2005 | James Oberg

[MikeD]

HOUSTON - Maj. Robert H. Lawrence, America’s first black astronaut, had already traveled far by the time he was selected as a military astronaut in 1967. His death later that year in a tragic accident not only cut short a promising career, it led full recognition of his accomplishments and hard-won status to be obscured for decades. Only after his supporters traveled their own difficult journey was Lawrence accorded his proper place in space history.

Lawrence was a 31-year-old Air Force officer when he was selected in 1967 to join a small team of military officers training for a planned small space station. The Pentagon's "Manned Orbiting Laboratory," or MOL, was intended to explore the value of military space missions for astronauts. Two-man crews would be launched aboard advanced Gemini capsules and spend a month or more in orbit, practicing visual reconnaissance and communications intercepts and other national security tasks.

[MikeD]

I'd post the whole article, but I'm not sure what the excerpting rules are for MSNBC. I think this guy deserves as much recognition as Eliot See -- at least Lawrence died in a real training accident, and not while buzzing ground targets.

[cvq3842]

I used to be a big "NASA in the 60's" buff. I will bookmark to read later.

[Arkinsaw]

Fascinating, I had never heard of this individual before. Thanks for posting.

[petitfour]

marking for later

[Jonah Hex]

Excuse me, but where do you get the part about "buzzing ground targets"? See and Bassett bought it in during a botched IFR approach into St. Louis with limited visibility (i.e. fog) when they clipped the McDonnell-Douglas building adjacent to the runway. (Ironically, their Gemini 9 craft was under construction in that self-same building.)

[Chi-townChief]

"Lawrence was born and raised in Chicago, where he excelled in school. At Bradley University he obtained a degree in chemistry and signed up for ROTC, where he became the corps commander. He graduated in 1956 and received an Air Force lieutenant’s commission."

My alma mater.

[DustyMoment]

I, for one, am sorry never to have heard of this man or his accomplishments. That his name was omitted from the plaque on the moon is equally disturbing. He deserved better.

Black, white, green, purple or polka-dotted, anyone who dons the uniform of their country to defend it against all enemies, foreign and domestic, deserves our honor and respect. That he died trying to push back the frontier of our knowledge of space makes his death that much more tragic.

Thanks for posting.

[petitfour]

Thanks for posting this article. I wonder if someone has a space ping list.