Ed Dwight, first African American candidate for space travel, takes off 60 years later

[Judi Lynn]

Posted Tue 21 May 2024 at 1:11am

In short: The US' first African American astronaut candidate Ed Dwight, 90, has flown into space for the first time.

He was in the same class as Apollo 11's Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins in 1963.

NASA did not select black astronauts until 1978.

Ed Dwight, who 60 years ago became the United States' first black candidate for space travel, has finally taken off.

Mr Dwight was a US Air Force pilot when then-president John F Kennedy championed him as a candidate for NASA's early astronaut corps.
However, he was not picked for the 1963 class, which included eventual Gemini and Apollo astronauts, including Apollo 11's Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins.

NASA did not select black astronauts until 1978, and Guion Bluford became the first African American in space in 1983.
Three years earlier, the Soviets launched the first black astronaut, Arnaldo Tamayo Mendez, a Cuban of African descent. On Sunday, however, Mr Dwight, now 90, finally reached space.

He experienced a few minutes of weightlessness with five other passengers aboard the Blue Origin capsule as it skimmed space on a roughly 10-minute flight.

He called it "a life-changing experience".



More:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-21/ed-dwight-americas-first-black-astronaut-candidate-finally-goes/103874616