Ronald McNair

Ronald Ervin McNair (Lake City, South Carolina, October 21, 1950-Cape Canaveral, Florida, January 28, 1986) was a saxophonist and NASA astronaut.

In 1967 he graduated from Carver High School in Lake City, South Carolina and later in 1971 received a BS in physics from North Carolina A&T State University and a Ph.D. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1976. He was followed by an honorary Juris Doctor from North Carolina A&T State University in 1971, an honorary Doctor of Science from Morris College in 1980, and an honorary Doctor of Science from the University of South Carolina in 1984.

While at MIT, McNair was involved in the development of high-pressure lasers. His experiments and his theoretical analyzes of the interaction of intense carbon dioxide radiation from lasers provided new insights into the understanding and application of highly excited polyatomic molecules.
In 1975 he studied laser physics with renowned scientists in this field at the École d'Été Théorique de Physique, Les Houches, France. McNair has published several papers related to lasers and molecular spectroscopy on which he has made several presentations not only in the United States, but also abroad.

After graduating from MIT, McNair joined the Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California as a physicist. His tasks included the development of lasers for photochemical and isotopic separation using nonlinear interactions in low-temperature liquids and optical pumping techniques. He also conducted research on laser electro-optical modulation for inter-satellite communications, the construction of ultra-fast infrared detectors, ultraviolet-sensitive atmospheric observation devices, and the scientific foundations of martial arts.

Organizations

McNair belonged to the following organizations: member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Optical Association, the American Physical Society (APS), the APS Committee on Minorities in Physics, the School of Sciences of North Carolina Board of Trustees for Mathematics, MIT Corporation Visiting Committee, Omega Psi Phi, and was also a visiting scholar to teach Physics classes at Texas Southern University.

Awards

Graduated from North Carolina A&T State University in 1971; appointed University President for 1967-1971, Ford Foundation Fellow (1971-1974), National Fellowship Foundation Fellow (1974-1975), NATO Member (1975); recipient of the 1975 Psi Phi Student of the Year Award, 1979 Service to the Public School System Award, 1979 Distinguished Alumnus Award, 1979 National Society of African American Professional Engineers Scientist Award, Friend of Liberty Award in 1981, Who's Who Among African Americans in 1980, AAU Karate Gold Medalist in 1976, also won five Regional Karate Black Belt Championships and numerous accolades and achievements.

NASA experience

The Challenger It disintegrates through the air.

In January 1978 Ronald McNair was selected by NASA as an astronaut candidate and in August 1979 he completed a year of training and evaluation. In this way he became available as a mission specialist for any future space shuttle mission.

Its first flight was on STS 41-B aboard the Challenger. The launch was on February 3, 1984 at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. In addition to McNair as mission specialist, the crew included Commander Vance Brand, Pilot Robert Gibson, and fellow mission specialists Bruce McCandless II and Robert Stewart.

The mission achieved the deployment of two Hughes 376 communications satellites as well as evaluation of orbital rendezvous sensors and computer programs. The mission was also the first to use the Maneuverable Flight Units and the Canadian arm (operated by McNair) for the location of a crew member in extravehicular activity (EVA) in the vicinity of the cargo bay of the Challenger.

The German satellite SPAS-OI was put into orbit, chemical separation experiments were carried out, filming on Cinema 360 cameras and numerous other experiments led by Ronald McNair. The Challenger culminated the mission in the first landing on the runway of the Kennedy Space Center on February 11, 1984.

Ronald McNair completed a total of 191 hours of spaceflight.

McNair was assigned as the mission specialist for space shuttle Challenger flight STS 51-L which lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida at 11:38:00 EST (16:38:00 UTC) on January 28, 1986. The Challenger crew was composed as follows: Commander Francis Scobee, Pilot Michael Smith, mission specialists: Dr. Judith Resnik, and Ellison Onizuka; cargo specialist Gregory Jarvis and civil cargo specialist Christa McAuliffe. The 7 crew members died instantly upon impacting the Challenger's cabin in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, after a long fall of almost three minutes. Within 73 seconds of Challenger's launch, there was a leak of glowing gases from a faulty ring in the right solid-propellant rocket. This caused an explosion that disintegrated the ship, which was engulfed in a ball of fire. The cabin module survived intact and was detached in the explosion to fall into the sea for 2 and a half minutes from a height of 15,240 meters.

NASA had estimated the odds of a catastrophic accident during launch (the most dangerous time of space flight) at a ratio of 1 in 438.

This accident, the most shocking of the space shuttle program, seriously damaged NASA's reputation as a space agency and the proposal for civilian participation, promulgated by Ronald Reagan and finalized with elementary school teacher Christa McCauliffe, scuttled all administrative and security structures. NASA temporarily suspended its space flights until 1988.

Because McNair was a saxophonist, he had worked with composer Jean Michel Jarre, prior to the tragic mission, on a piece of music called Rendez-vous VI. McNair was planned to record a saxophone solo in space, becoming the first piece of music recorded in space. After the disaster, the piece was renamed Ron's Piece.

Ronald McNair was married with two children.

Eponymy

• The McNair lunar crater carries this name in his memory.