TEST PILOT ADDED TO MEMORIAL; EDWARDS AVIATOR DIED IN '67 CRASH.

Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer

An Edwards test pilot who died in a plane crash 30 years ago had his name added Monday to an astronaut memorial at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Maj. Robert H. Lawrence, America's first African-American astronaut, was added to Space Mirror Memorial on the 30th anniversary of his death. Lawrence was killed in an F-104 during a mission aimed at simulating the landing of a nonpowered space glider - which would become the space shuttle.

``Formal recognition of Major Lawrence as an astronaut and brave American patriot is long overdue,'' said Jim DeSantis, president of the Astronauts Memorial Foundation, which oversees the Space Mirror Memorial. The 6-year-old monument honors U.S. astronauts who died in training or on a space mission.

Lawrence never actually flew into space, but had been selected for the Air Force's Manned Orbital Laboratory, a precursor to today's space shuttle program.

On the day of his death, Lawrence and pilot Maj. Harvey Royer were trying to simulate the landing of a returning spacecraft at Edwards Air Force Base. The mission profile called for their F-104 to make a 25-degree, 330-mph dive before shallowing out at 1,800 feet and landing.

Lawrence was just 32 when he died. Royer was seriously injured ejecting from the aircraft.

The data from the flight contributed to the development of the space shuttle.

Lawrence was a native of Chicago. Lawrence became an Air Force officer at 20 after receiving a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Bradley University in Peoria, Ill. Lawrence later earned a doctorate degree in physical chemistry from Ohio State University.

Lawrence later served as a fighter pilot and flight instructor. Lawrence later graduated from the Aerospace Research Pilot School Training Program at Edwards, which is now the Test Pilot School.