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Pilot chosen for space got his due
Monday, February 19, 2001
Correction/Clarification: (Published Feb. 21, 2001) When the Air Force canceled its Manned Orbital Laboratory program, its men and resources were reassigned to NASA's space program. Monday's Let's Talk About column incorrectly said women were reassigned to NASA. Women were not part of the MOL program.
Even as a youngster, Robert Lawrence displayed an interest in chemistry that would make him a pioneer in space aviation history. He made his own experiments with store-bought kits.
After earning a chemistry degree from Bradley University in 1956, he joined the Air Force to learn to fly. Later he earned a doctorate in physical chemistry from Ohio State University and was a test pilot at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
In 1967, he was one of four Air Force officers selected for astronaut training in the Manned Orbital Laboratory (MOL) program. This appointment made him the first African-American picked to become an astronaut.
But less than a year later, Lawrence was killed during a training exercise when his F-104 Starfighter jet crashed. Shortly afterward, the Air Force canceled the MOL program and reassigned its men and women to NASA's space flight program.
In the years that followed, the story of Robert Lawrence and the Air Force astronauts was lost.
Perhaps that is why the Space Memorial Mirror -- designed to honor America's astronauts lost in the line of duty -- didn't include Lawrence when it opened at the Kennedy Space Center in 1994.
When this was pointed out, officials claimed he did not qualify because he had not flown in space. It was quickly pointed out that this rule would eliminate other names on the memorial. Charges of discrimination were raised.
In 1996 NASA's shuttle astronauts entered the debate in support of Lawrence by choosing to fly the MOL mission patch in space.
The next year, memorial officials reversed themselves. Exactly 30 years after his death, Lawrence's name was placed on the Space Mirror Memorial.
-- By John G. Radzilowicz, director, Henry Buhl, Jr. Planetarium & Observatory
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