Major Robert H. Lawrence, Jr. A Hidden Figure in Plain Site
The early Space Age corresponded to a period in America when there was no shortage of inspirational figures in the struggle for racial equality. However, one man in particular might have made such inequities more visible and thus less tolerable. Test pilot, scientist, husband, and father, and Hollywood handsome, Robert H. Lawrence, Jr., personified the change that society needed to make. But his opportunity was lost even as he reached to grasp it in one of those perverse tragedies that makes one wonder if ours is really the alternate universe.
Fifty years ago, Lawrence became the first African-American chosen as an American astronaut—but not as a NASA astronaut. A graduate of the US Air Force’s two-part Experimental Test Pilot Course and Aerospace Research Pilot Course at Edwards Air Force Base, California, Lawrence was selected in the third and final group of “aerospace research pilots” for the Air Force’s semi-secret Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) reconnaissance program,2 America’s other manned space program.
Full article:
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/3262/1
The Buffalo Soldiers National Museum in Houston, Texas, commissioned renowned astronaut patch designer Tim Gagnon to create this commemorative logo for the 50th anniversary event recognizing the selection of Major Lawrence. (credit: Tim Gagnon)
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