Editing Ronald McNair (section)

==Astronaut career==
[[File:Ronald McNair, Guion Bluford, and Fred Gregory (S79-36529, restoration).jpg|thumb|First three African-American astronauts to go to space, including McNair, [[Guy Bluford]] and [[Frederick D. Gregory|Fred Gregory]] from the class of 1978 selection of astronauts]] 
In 1978, McNair was selected as one of 35 applicants from a pool of 10,000 for the NASA astronaut program. He was one of several astronauts recruited by [[Nichelle Nichols]] as part of a NASA effort to increase the number of minority and female astronauts.<ref>{{cite web  |title=Space History Photo: Nichelle Nichols, NASA Recruiter |url=https://www.space.com/24147-nichelle-nichols-nasa-recruiter.html |date=January 3, 2014 |website=[[Space.com]] |access-date=July 21, 2022}}</ref> McNair flew as a mission specialist on STS-41-B aboard ''Challenger'' from February 3 to 11, 1984, becoming the second African American to fly in space.

[[File: Astronaut candidates Ronald McNair, Guion Bluford, and Frederick Gregory.jpg|thumb|left|Astronaut candidates Ron McNair, [[Guy Bluford]], and [[Frederick D. Gregory|Fred Gregory]] wearing Apollo spacesuits, May 1978]]

===''Challenger'' disaster===
{{main|Space Shuttle Challenger disaster}}
[[File:Challenger flight 51-l crew.jpg|thumb|''[[STS-51-L|Challenger]]'' crew: (front row) [[Michael J. Smith (astronaut)|Michael J. Smith]], [[Dick Scobee]], Ronald McNair; (back row) [[Ellison Onizuka]], [[Christa McAuliffe]], [[Gregory Jarvis]], [[Judith Resnik]]]]

Following the STS-41-B mission, McNair was selected for STS-51-L as one of three mission specialists in a crew of seven. The mission launched on January 28, 1986. He and the other six crew members were killed when ''Challenger'' [[Space Shuttle Challenger disaster|disintegrated]] nine miles above the Atlantic Ocean, 73 seconds after liftoff.<ref name="NASA Bio"/>

McNair was initially buried at Rest Lawn Memorial Park in Lake City, South Carolina. His remains were disinterred in 2004 and moved to Ronald E. McNair Memorial Park, located elsewhere in Lake City.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ronald E. McNair |url=https://discoversouthcarolina.com/articles/ronald-e-mcnair |website=discoversouthcarolina.com |publisher=SC Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism |access-date=August 20, 2023}}</ref>