When Ronald McNair was 9 years old, he tried to check out some science textbooks from the public library near his home in South Carolina. A librarian refused, telling him the library was only for white residents. Ron persisted, so the librarian called the police, but the officers who arrived took Ron’s side.
In high school, Ron played baseball, basketball, football and saxophone for the school band. But he kept reading, too, earning a scholarship to North Carolina A&T and then moving on to MIT. After earning his PhD in physics in 1976, Ron went to work for Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu (next-door neighbor to Pepperdine).
When NASA began looking for scientists to join its shuttle program, McNair applied and was one of 35 chosen from 11,000 applicants. He completed his training in August 1978 and took his first shuttle mission in in February 1984, becoming the second African American in space and possibly the first to play saxophone during a mission. McNair’s second mission aboard the Challenger launched on Jan. 28, 1986. It exploded 73 seconds later, killing him and six others onboard.
Today, multiple schools, programs, scholarships, and research foundations across the country are named in honor of McNair. Including the Lake City, South Carolina, library that tried to bar a curious 9-year-old who wanted to check out books. Look for the 2009 children’s book, Ron’s Big Mission, by Rose Blue, Corrine Naden and Don Tate, that tells Ron’s story for young readers today.
0 Comments