The flight manoeuvre data collected by Lawrence was later said by NASA to have contributed greatly to the development of the Space Shuttle. His experience led him to fly many tests in the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter to help NASA investigate the gliding flight of various unpowered spacecraft returning to Earth from orbit, including the X-15 rocket-plane. While working on a PhD in physical chemistry from Ohio State University (which he earned in 1965, aged 25), Lawrence also studied at the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.īradley became a senior US Air Force pilot, having accumulated over 2,500 flying hours, of which 2,000 were in jets. A year later he married Barbara Cress (with whom he later had a son, Tracey), and by the time he was 25, had completed an assignment as an instructor pilot in the T-33 training aircraft for the German Air Force. Lawrence was designated as a US Air Force officer and fighter pilot aged 21, after completing flight training at Malden Air Force Base in Missouri. Air Force / Public Domain US Air Force career Lawrence standing next to an F-104 Starfighter A chess enthusiast and model airplane builder as a child, Lawrence graduated in the top 10% from Englewood High School, and in 1956, graduated from Bradley University with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry aged 20.ĭuring his time at Bradley, Lawrence had distinguished himself as Cadet Commander in the Air Force Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) and received the commission of Second Lieutenant in the Air Force Reserve Program. Robert Lawrence was born on 2 October 1935 in Chicago, Illinois. How did Robert Lawrence become an astronaut? Early life Despite his early death, Lawrence’s contributions to space science and his achievements paved the way for future generations of diverse astronauts, leaving a lasting impact on the history of space exploration. Tragically, Lawrence’s promising career was cut short when he was killed in a plane crash while an instructor, before he got the opportunity to fly in space. Lawrence Jr was a US Air Force officer who became the first African-American astronaut in 1967, as part of the Air Force’s Manned Orbiting Laboratory programme.
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