Ed Dwight finally reached space more than 60 years after making headlines as the United States’ first Black astronaut candidate. The 90-year-old retired Air Force Captain lifted off on Sunday, May 19, aboard Blue Origin’s 25th New Shepard sub-orbital mission. Launching with five other passengers at 9:35 a.m. CDT (1435 GMT) from the company’s West Texas facility, Dwight reached an altitude of 65.8 miles (105.9 km), earning him astronaut status by the standards of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) and the Association of Space Explorers.
The flight concluded with the New Shepard capsule “RSS First Step” landing under parachutes, not far from its launch site, roughly 10 minutes after liftoff. This milestone marked the culmination of a journey that began in 1961.
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“I thought I really didn’t need this in my life, but now I need this in my life,” Dwight said after landing and stepping out of the capsule. “It was a life-changing experience.”
At the urging of then-President John F. Kennedy, Dwight became the first Black airman to report to the Aerospace Research Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in California. The program, led by Chuck Yeager, was a pathway for pilots to join NASA. Dwight was among the 26 classmates recommended to NASA by the Air Force.
Recalling a 2020 interview with collectSPACE, Dwight said, “I was on magazine covers all over the world and getting 1,500 letters a day from people congratulating me — and I hadn’t done anything yet.”
After Kennedy’s assassination in 1963, Dwight lost White House support and was ultimately passed over for NASA’s astronaut program. In 1967, test pilot Robert Lawrence became the first African American selected for a space program, the Air Force’s Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL), but tragically died in a jet crash six months later. It wasn’t until 1983 that Guion “Guy” Bluford became the first Black American in space.
Dwight found another opportunity through Space For Humanity, a non-profit that funds space travel to foster the “Overview Effect,” a cognitive shift from seeing Earth from space. Blue Origin didn’t disclose the trip’s cost, but the Jaison and Jamie Robinson Foundation also supported Dwight’s launch.
“Everybody needs to do this,” Dwight said after his spaceflight.
Dwight’s crewmates for the NS-25 launch included venture capitalist Mason Angel; Sylvain Chiron, founder of Brasserie Mont Blanc; software engineer Kenneth Hess; adventure tourist Carol Schaller; and Gopi Thotakura, co-founder of Preserve Life Corp.
Sunday’s launch was Blue Origin’s seventh human spaceflight and the first since a New Shepard booster failure during an uncrewed flight in September 2022. With the NS-25 crew, Blue Origin has flown 37 people to space, including Wally Funk and Laura Shepard Churchley.
Since retiring from the Air Force, Dwight has dedicated his life to sculpture, creating over 20,000 gallery works and more than 130 public artworks, including the Texas African American History Memorial in Austin. On Sunday, Ed Dwight became the 21st Black American astronaut to fly into space.
