Late astronaut Ron McNair subject of talk at Downey’s Space Center

Brother remembers spirit of scientist killed in Columbia crash.

DOWNEY — Carl McNair, brother of the late astronaut Ronald McNair, will talk about discuss his brother and his book, “In the Spirit of Ronald E. McNair,” Tuesday at the Columbia Memorial Space Center.

Carl McNair’s visit coincides with the 25th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion, which killed his brother and six other crew members — Francis Scobee, Michael J. Smith, Ellison Onizuka, Judy Resnik, Christa McAuliffe and Gregory Jarvis.

Ronald was the second African American to fly in space. He was nationally recognized for his work in the field of laser physics, and in 1978, he was selected as one of 35 applicants from a pool of more than 10,000 for the astronaut program.

Carl McNair’s talk is at The free event takes place 5 p.m. Tuesday. The Space Center is at 12400 Columbia Way. For more information, call 562-231-1200 or visit www.columbiaspacescience.org.

Source: Press Telegram