Elijah Williams
In 1961, Ed Dwight hoped to become the first black astronaut in space. But he never made it. Now, at age 90, Dwight will have the chance to finally experience space aboard Blue Origin’s next mission in the Earth’s atmosphere.
Dwight was selected by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 to enter an Air Force training program known as the NASA Pathway to the Astronaut Corps.
When he received the letter in 1961 offering him the opportunity to be the first black astronaut, “I thought these guys were crazy,” Dwight said. national correspondent Jericka Duncan in 2022.
After completing the program in 1963, the Air Force recommended that he join the corps, but he was not selected and entered private life in 1966.
Dwight said he felt discrimination among his peers during training.
“So all these white people that I’m dealing with, I mean my colleagues, the other guys who were astronaut candidates and the leadership were horrified at the idea of me going to Edwards and the president nominating me for the position,” said Dwight .
His dream of going to space fell into oblivion for more than 60 years. But Dwight was selected as one of six civilians who will travel to the edge of space on Blue Origin’s next flight in June.
Blue Origin, a space exploration company founded by Jeff Bezos, sent 22 successful messages commercial flights into the atmosphere. Some of Famous passengers include Bezos himself, who was on the historic first flight, Michael Strahan and William Shatner.
During the first commercial flight, aviation pioneer Wally Funk became the oldest person to travel to space at age 82. 90 years old, Shatner won the title of oldest person in space.
Now, Dwight is going to tie him up.
Following his flight training and subsequent leave from the Air Force, Dwight dedicated his life to creating sculptures depicting iconic figures from black history. More than 130 pieces of his work have been exhibited in museums and installed in public spaces.
Your seat on the Blue Origin flight – which will cost US$250,000 – is sponsored by the non-profit organization Space for Humanity, which helps send citizens into space. They also sponsored Katya Echazarreta, 26, an electrical engineer originally from Guadalajara, Mexico, who participated in Blue Origin’s June 2022 mission, becoming the first American woman born in Mexico and one of the youngest women to fly into space.
Space travel takes civilians about 62 miles away from Earth and into the atmosphere for a few minutes of weightlessness and a view of space and Earth.
The other five people on Blue Origin’s next flight are venture capitalist Mason Angel, French brewery founder Sylvain Chiron, software engineer Kenneth L. Hess, retired CPA Carol Schaller and pilot and aviator Gopi Thotakura.
Caitlin O’Kane
