Robert Henry Lawrence Jr.

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Robert Henry Lawrence, Jr.

Robert Henry Lawrence Jr. (born October 2, 1935 in Chicago , Illinois , † December 8, 1967 in Lancaster , California ) was an American pilot and aspiring astronaut.

Life

Lawrence is studying chemistry at Bradley University and then enlisted through the ROTC program with the United States Air Force .

From 1956 he served in the Air Force as a pilot, first at Malden Air Base in Missouri, then in Germany, where he trained Bundeswehr pilots on the Lockheed T-33 at Fürstenfeldbruck airfield . Back in the USA, he studied physical chemistry at Ohio State University , earning a Ph.D. in 1965. left.

Lawrence worked for the Air Force at Kirtland Air Force Base , New Mexico, and then transferred to the test pilot school at Edwards Air Force Base , California, which he graduated in 1967.

At that time, the Air Force was planning the military space station Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) and was already training two groups of future astronauts. On June 30, 1967, Lawrence was selected for the third MOL group. He thus became the first black space traveler candidate.

accident

Lawrence worked on as a test pilot in Edwards, where he examined the approach behavior of extremely fast aircraft. On December 8, 1967, he was employed as an instructor in a two-seat F-104 Starfighter . With him on the plane was John Royer, who was supposed to practice these approaches. Royer touched down too hard on one of these approaches. The landing gear broke and the underside of the starfighter caught fire. The plane took off again briefly, hit again, slid along the runway, and finally toppled over. Royer and Lawrence operated the ejector seat . While Royer survived seriously injured, Lawrence's injuries were fatal.

Recognition as an astronaut

At NASA , the term "astronaut" is used for people who have completed their astronautics training, even if they have not yet performed a space flight. The US Air Force, on the other hand, associates the term "astronaut" with a flight over 50 miles (80 km) above sea level. Lawrence hadn't met any of these requirements so he wasn't considered an astronaut. Had Lawrence lived he would probably have been among the MOL astronauts who, after MOL's cancellation, became members of NASA Astronaut Group 7 and all flew on the space shuttle.

The sculpture Fallen Astronaut , which was placed on the moon in 1971, contains names of deceased astronauts, Lawrence is not noted here.

Even when the Space Mirror Memorial was inaugurated at the Kennedy Space Center in 1991 , it was not listed. The politician Bobby Rush called this a "classic case of institutional racism" and campaigned for the US Air Force to reassess this case. Eventually the Air Force decided to recognize Lawrence as an astronaut. On December 8, 1997, the 30th anniversary of Lawrence's death, his name was added to the Space Mirror Memorial.

In 2018, Lawrence was also given a dedicated space artwork called Enoch . It is a golden vessel with a bust of Lawrence on the lid, which has been orbiting the earth as a satellite since December 2018. According to its creator Tavares Strachan, the container contains the soul of Lawrence, which makes up for the space flight, which the astronaut was denied.

The cargo spacecraft Cygnus NG-13 was named SS Robert H. Lawrence in February 2020 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ US Air Force: Accident Report. (JPG) Retrieved May 3, 2017 (English).
  2. ↑ James Otberk: The unsung astronaut. In: NBC News. February 23, 2005, accessed February 5, 2020 .
  3. ↑ First black astronaut honored 30 years after death. The Augusta Chronicle, December 8, 1997, accessed May 3, 2017 .
  4. ↑ Christoph Seidler: SpaceX is facing a new milestone in rocket recycling. In: Spiegel Online . November 28, 2018, accessed September 13, 2019 .
  5. ↑ NG-13 Cygnus Named for Maj. Robert H. Lawrence, Jr. NASA, February 7, 2020.
personal data
SURNAME Lawrence, Robert Henry Jr.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American pilot
DATE OF BIRTH October 2, 1935
PLACE OF BIRTH Chicago , Illinois
DATE OF DEATH December 8, 1967
Place of death near Lancaster , California