In 1961, President John F. Kennedy accepted aspiring astronaut Ed Dwight into NASA’s Astronaut Corps, an astronaut training program run by the US Air Force. Dwight had big dreams of becoming the first Black astronaut to travel to space, but unfortunately he faced significant racial discrimination and never qualified for a mission. Now, the 90-year-old is finally achieving his goal as he plans to participate in Blue Origin’s upcoming mission. Dwight’s seat on the flight, which costs about $250,000, is sponsored by Space For Humanity, a nonprofit working to make space travel accessible to civilians. Aboard the Blue Origin flight, Dwight will travel 62 miles into the atmosphere and will experience a few minutes of weightlessness before returning back to the Earth’s surface. In the process, Dwight will also tie Wally Funk’s record for oldest person to ever travel to space.Â
Image via CBS
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