unsaveSave
expand-left
fullscreenEdward Dwight may become the oldest person in space. Photo: Chris Pizzello/AP/TT
Edward Dwight was close to becoming the world’s first black astronaut. Now the 90-year-old is charging to become the oldest person in space instead.
– I’m ready to go.
The phone rings and Edward Dwight answers. On the phone, the space travel company Blue Origin asks if he wants a paid ticket for an eleven-minute ride in space.
– Of course I said yes. It’s curiosity more than anything else, says Edward Dwight to the NPR channel.
No date has yet been set, but he will become the oldest person in space during the trip. Today’s oldest astronaut is “Star Trek” actor William Shatner, who was also 90 years old when he traveled in October 2021. Dwight will be a few months older when he heads into space.
Not worried
Space health experts believe that it is mainly the g-force that the body is exposed to during acceleration that is a concern, but see no major risks. Dwight himself isn’t worried and doesn’t think it will be much different from what he experienced as a test pilot in the Air Force.
– I have been high enough to see the curvature of the earth, I have done similar things all my life.
Edward Dwight has been interested in aviation since childhood and enlisted early in the air force. He became a skilled pilot and later also an officer.
Question from Kennedy
One day a request came from President John F Kennedy, who was committed to civil rights issues and wanted to extend this to the space program as well. Did Dwight want to be the first black astronaut? He received an invitation to enter the Aerospace Research Pilot School to train as a test pilot.
During and after training, Dwight experienced immediate resistance, which he says was rooted in racism. After Kennedy’s death in 1963, it became clear that he would never be selected as an astronaut, and he left the US Air Force and hopes of traveling in space, he says.
– It will be the culmination of an interesting story, says Edward Dwight about the upcoming space journey.