Mission Specialist(Lake City, S.C.)
McNair, 35, became an astronaut in 1978 and took his first shuttle flight in 1984. He was the second black man in space, following Guion Bluford.
McNair earned a bachelor's degree in physics from North Carolina A&T State University, and a doctorate in physics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
As a staff physicist with Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, Calif., before his appointment as an astronaut, he conducted laser research in satellite-to-satellite space communications.
In his 1984 flight, McNair was part of the crew that first used the "Canadian arm" to position crew members outside the spacecraft.
McNair and his wife, Cheryl, had two children: Reginald and Joy.