Degree(s): Chemistry, Physical Chemistry
_
Undergraduate Institution: Bradley University
Graduate Institution: The Ohio State University
_
Photo Credit: NASA
Maj. Robert H. Lawrence, Jr. was the first Black astronaut. A senior US Air Force (USAF) he accumulated over 2,500 flight hours before being selected as part of the Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL), a joint project of the USAF and the National Reconnaissance Office to obtain high-resolution images of Cold War adversaries of the US. Six months after being selected, Maj. Lawrence was killed in a training accident. Former NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden noted that Maj. Lawrence “was involved in the development of the maneuver that would become a critical part of space shuttle landing techniques called ‘flare.’”
_