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Ronald E. McNair: Astro-Black Eagle On The Horn · by R.H.S.
Galaxy rays … POWERFUL
Ronald E. McNair (October 21, 1950 – January 28, 1986) is a personal hero of mine. A skim of his Wikipedia entry will convince most inhabitants of earth that the man was at the very least, highly intelligent and courageous. He was born and raised in poverty in the still-segregated back country of South Carolina, yet through a blessed combination of genius, perseverence, good fortune, and encouraging mentorship earned a Ph.D. in Physics from M.I.T. While working as a staff physicist at the Hughes Laboratories in Malibu, California, Dr. McNair was recruited by the inimitable Nichelle Nichols (Lieutenant Uhura of Star Trek fame) to join a program designed to increase minority and female participation in NASA missions, and he flew on the Challenger in 1984 as a mission specialist, making him the second African-American to travel in space.
Sadly, Dr. McNair perished aboard the Challenger when the shuttle exploded shortly after take-off in 1986. His memory has not been extinguished, however – there are numerous schools, research facilities, parks, streets, planetarium theaters, university auditoriums, statues, and educational foundations that bear his name. Following Dr. McNair’s death and according to his wishes, his brother Carl McNair established the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program, a federally funded initiative that assists low-income first-generation and otherwise underrepresented college students pursue doctoral degrees. I am a graduate of this program and currently an advisor for its office at an especially large New Jersey university.
More importantly, however, Dr. McNair was a saxophonist. Kurt Heisig, a saxaphone instructor and rebuilder of premium saxaphones, relates the story of how the affable and dedicated Dr. McNair sought his advice to rent a curved soprano saxaphone to smuggle aboard the Challenger in 1984:
He asked me to rent a soprano to him! I tried suggestiong different alternatives to help him, but he still wanted to rent. He was a likable fellow, and so sincere that I really wanted to help him. The problem was that he was in Texas, three states away. There was a bit of silence on the line as we both tried to find a way to make this work. Then he said, “You see, I’m an astronaut and I wanted to take it on the space shuttle with me.” Well in all these years I’ve heard some good lines, but this was pretty incredible! Suppose he was an astronaut? As it turned out, he was an astronaut! I helped him to rent a saxophone. Ron was a tenor player, but he was hoping to get permission to take a saxophone with him on his first space shuttle flight, and only the soprano would fit. He preferred to rent an instrument until he received final permission to take it. It turned out that the decision about curved verses straight soprano saxophones was made for Ron McNair. The astronaut’s personal stowage is an inch and one-half too short for a straight soprano in B-flat.
By brainstorming together over the phone, the two men made is possible for the saxaphone to become the first musical instrument played in space, on the Challenger‘s 1984 mission:
The first big hurdle was for Ron to prepare for the possibility of playing at low cabin pressure… To address the pressure problem, Ron worked on exercises that had been developed by the late clarinetist, Calerence Warmelin … always slurring, using the syllable “augh”, and blowing stronger with each note change. He also worked to use lots of air so that he could move up in reed strength as soon as possible. Vandoren #5 reeds gave the best results … Ron become comfortable on strong reeds in a very short time. This proved to be a real advantage because it turned out that the shuttle cabin pressure was kept low at times. He also had a few softer reeds to fall back on. Later, to my surprise, he told me that he had used the hard reeds when playing even at low cabin pressure.
It turns out that Dr. McNair’s participation on the disastrous Challenger mission of 1986 was also supposed to be connected to a musically historical event, in this case an outdoor concert known as Rendez-Vous Houston, headed by musician Jean Michel Barre:
In 1985, Jarre was contacted by the musical director of the Houston Grand Opera with the proposal for him related to the celebrations of Texas’ 150th birthday in 1986, 150th birthday of the city of Houston and NASA’s 25th birthday. Because of NASA’s involvement, Jarre got the chance to keep in contact with a friend of his, astronaut captain Bruce McCandless II who later introduced Jarre to a flight companion of his, astronaut and jazz musician Ron McNair. Together they had the idea that for the celebrations, Jarre would create a piece of music that could be performed by McNair on his saxophone. The idea was that McNair, on his next trip into space in the Challenger Space Shuttle, would perform (and record onto video) the new piece of music, which would then be projected (through video playback) onto a giant screen that was to be constructed on the front of one of the buildings.
Well obviously this plan was thwarted but you gotta salute the spirit involved. Rock on, Dr. McNair, your soul loves the sun…
Comments for "Ronald E. McNair: Astro-Black Eagle On The Horn"
i went to a middle school that was named after him yo…it was the illest school in year i ever had…definitely my happiest time too…
— edgar c. Nov 19, 05:23 AM
That Wikipedia entry completely skimmed over his ENTIRE childhood and early adult years because he grew up in the South End of Boston, MA where he learned martial arts alongside his brother and friends. He eventually taught martial arts and mentored young people in the Boston area as well. I now live in the very same unit that Ronald McNair and his brother grew up in. Shit, I’m typing this from the room he shared with his brother back in the days!
Ronald McNair is still revered as a Boston legend to this very day and his friends got together to reminisce on January 28, 2006…sad as hell. I remember being in 5th grade when it happened and the whole city was hurt.
Rest In Eternal Peace.
One.
— Dart Adams Nov 19, 09:52 AM
Dart – I apologize for the oversight. In all of the times I have heard people recount his life, I don’t think I’ve heard much mention of his years in Boston, if at all really. You always hear about the physicist from South Carolina. Thanks for sharing that with us.
I was only 6 going on 7 when the disaster happened, and I didn’t know that Dr. McNair would prove to be such a huge figure in my life, but being a young kid who thought astronauts were invincible and impossibly cool, the news stung.
— R.H.S. Nov 19, 10:25 AM
Great post. I didn’t know about this guy before.
— AaronM Nov 19, 11:00 AM
yo major props for this. i graduated from nc a&t in ’95 and he was a hero of mine. it was so bugged out when the challenger blew up. we were home from elementary school due to parent/teacher conferences.
i met him and he autographed a 8×10 glossy of himself.
rest in power
— bongolock Nov 19, 04:59 PM
I wish that I could have met him. I wonder if the above commenter is referring to his years at MIT when he was getting his PhD in physics. I know that he grew up in South Carolina and attended MIT in the 1970s.
— hexodus Nov 15, 08:42 PM
hi i am doing an report on Ronald mcnair and i need some info mation on him email me at jake.olari@comast.net
— JAKE Feb 10, 01:01 PM
hi i am doing an report on Ronald mcnair and i need some info mation on him email me at jake.olari@gmail.com
— JAKE Feb 10, 01:03 PM
he is cool!
— dave Feb 15, 03:25 PM