During an Astronauts Memorial Foundation tribute honoring U.S. Air Foce Maj. Robert Lawrence, his sister, Barbara Lawrence, Ph.D., speaks to guests during the ceremony. Selected in 1967 for the Manned Orbiting Laboratory Program, Lawrence was the first African-American astronaut. He lost his life in a training accident 50 years ago. The ceremony took place in the Center for Space Education at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.