Space Stories: Ronald McNair

Early life

Ronald McNair was born in South Carolina in October 1950. Growing up as a black child at that time, in that part of the United States, meant dealing with segregation and racial prejudice. Ronald’s brother Carl tells a story that speaks volumes about the calm way in which the young Ronald approached such challenges.

As a 9-year-old he already had a keen interest in science and decided to walk to the local library to borrow some books on the subject. The librarian refused to serve him but he insisted on waiting, despite her threat to call the police, which she then did. The police were bemused to have been called to deal with a polite nine-year-old and, along with his mother who had also been called, persuaded the librarian to let him borrow the books. At which point his mother prompted “What do you say?” and Ronald responded with a respectful “Thank you, ma’am” to the librarian.

NASA career

As a child, Ronald had been inspired by Star Trek. That programme was truly ahead of its time, featuring a multi-racial crew where race was barely mentioned, never mind made a feature of – a groundbreaking example of what we would now term colour-blind casting. And the power of such representation in mainstream media can barely be overstated – it gave the young Ronald McNair the belief that space travel was possible for him, and there are plenty of other examples of prominent figures who’ve talked about being equally inspired.

So when NASA was recruiting for scientists to join their astronaut corps in the late 1970s, Ronald had no compunction about applying. In a neat coincidence Nichelle Nichols, who had played Lieutenant Uhura in Star Trek, was employed by NASA as the public face of the recruitment campaign.

There was a specific drive with this campaign to increase the diversity of the astronaut corps. The group of 35 successful candidates recruited in 1978 included NASA’s first female astronauts, first Asian-American astronaut, and first African-American astronauts, Ronald among them. This group of recruits – officially “NASA Astronaut Group 8”, but usually known by the self-appointed informal title “The Thirty-Five New Guys” – provided many firsts over the following years, beginning in 1983 when Sally Ride and Guy Bluford became the first American woman and the first African-American in space respectively.

Five months after Bluford’s flight, on 3 February 1984, Ronald McNair became just the second African-American in space, flying as a Mission Specialist on board Space Shuttle Mission STS-41-B. The mission deployed two communications satellites, but is best known for the first untethered spacewalk, with Bruce McCandless testing out a ‘jet-pack’ style unit. Ronald operated the Shuttle’s robotic arm in support of this historic spacewalk.

Legacy

Throughout Ronald’s adult life he had continued to pursue various extra-curricular interests. He was a five-time regional champion in karate, and had maintained a lifelong love of the saxophone, becoming an accomplished player. He was famously photographed playing his saxophone during his first flight in 1984. Ahead of his 1986 flight he had been collaborating with renowned electronic musician and composer Jean-Michel Jarre, and was due to record a saxophone solo for Jarre’s upcoming album while in space. After Ronald’s death, Jarre renamed the track that would have included Ronald’s contribution as “Last Rendez-Vous (Ron’s Piece)”, and included a dedication to Ronald and his fellow Challenger crewmates on the album’s liner notes.

As one of the first African-American astronauts, Ronald McNair was an inspirational figure and a pioneer in the increasingly diverse astronaut corps we see today. A huge number of public buildings and parks have been named in his honour. Perhaps most poignantly, in 2011 the very same library he had visited as a nine-year-old was renamed The Ronald McNair Life History Center. A fitting tribute that the small boy who had initially been refused service just for the colour of his skin is now being celebrated for his inspirational achievements.