On February 2, 2003, “Roger, uh...” were the last words heard from the Columbia Space Shuttle, which exploded during re-entry to Earth, killing all seven of its astronauts. This included the first Israeli astronaut, Ilan Ramon. However, with Black History month upon us, and our nation in mourning, we might ask ourselves the question, “What about the first African-American astronaut?” The answer is found in a young man from Chicago, Illinois.

Born on October 2, 1935 (in Chicago), Robert H. Lawrence Jr. was easily distinguished from his peers. He graduated from Englewood High School at the age of 16, and in the top 10

Although Major Lawrence was appointed to be an astronaut by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); during the 1960’s, in order to become a full-fledged astronaut, one had to have flown at least 50 miles high. Lawrence had not yet achieved this, and therefore was not an official astronaut. Because of this, the Astronauts Memorial Foundation refused to etch Lawrence’s name onto the Space Mirror Memorial (along with 16 American astronauts also killed in the line of duty) at Kennedy Space Center. However, with the help of Chicago’s (Lawrence’s native state) U.S. Representative Bobby Rush, the Air Force was persuaded to verify Lawrence's status as an astronaut. He cited the situation as, “a classic case of instit

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