Edward Dwight was set to become America's first Black astronaut in the 1960s, but was never granted the opportunity to fly to space. Now at age 90, that's all about to change.
Dwight, a former U.S. Air Force Test Pilot and America's first African American astronaut candidate, is one of six people set to travel to the edge of space on Blue Origin's New Shepherd rocket.
Though he never made it to space, Dwight is known as a pioneer for Black astronauts.
In 1961, Dwight was chosen by President John F. Kennedy to enter training at the Aerospace Research Pilot School (ARPS), an elite U.S. Air Force flight training program known as a pathway for entering the NASA Astronaut Corps. At the time, Dwight was the only Black officer who met the criteria, which included 1,500 hours of flying jet airplanes, a bachelor's degree in science or engineering, and three consecutive "outstanding" ratings from military superiors, The Associated Press reported.
Dwight told the AP his first thought was "Hell no" when he was invited to train to be an astronaut. But he joined the program and became a celebrity among the Black community. Behind closed doors though, Dwight said he experienced racism and hostility from officers and peers who resented his inclusion in the program.
"They were all instructed to give me the cold shoulder. [Chuck] Yeager had a meeting with the students and the staff in the auditorium and announced it — that Washington was trying to shove this N-word down our throats," Dwight told the AP.
After successfully completing the ARPS program in 1963, Dwight was among 26 candidates recommended by the Air Force for the NASA Astronaut Corps, but ultimately he was not one of the 14 selected.
Dwight left the Air Force in 1966 and spent a decade as an entrepreneur before dedicating his life's work to using sculpture as a medium to tell the story of Black history.
When Dwight finally gets the chance to journey into space, he'll be the oldest person to go there at age 90 -- edging out Star Trek actor William Shatner, who flew aboard a Blue Origin rocket in 2021, NPR reported.
Dwight will be joined by five other "space tourists" when the 11-minute flight takes off on a yet-to-be announced date: Mason Angel, Sylvain Chiron, Kenneth L. Hess, Carol Schaller and Gopi Thotakura.
Angel is the founder of Industrious Ventures, a venture capital fund supporting early-stage companies that enable or progress new industrial revolutions.
Chiron is the founder of the Brasserie Mont Blanc, one of the largest craft breweries in France.
Hess is a software engineer and entrepreneur who developed the Family Tree Maker product line in the 1990s, which helped create the foundation for today's multi-billion dollar family history industry.
Schaller is a retired CPA, and Thotakura is a pilot and aviator.
This mission will be the seventh human flight for Blue Origin's New Shepard program and the 25th in its history. To date, the program has flown 31 humans above the Kármán line, the internationally recognized boundary of space.
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