Ronald McNair

1950-10-21 - 1986-01-28 Contemporaries

Ronald Erwin McNair (1950–1986) was an American NASA astronaut and physicist. He died at age 35 during the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger on mission STS-51-L on January 28, 1986, serving as one of three mission specialists in a crew of seven. He had previously flown as a mission specialist on STS-41-B aboard Challenger in February 1984, becoming the second Black American in space.