This is Ed Dwight, America’s First Black Astronaut Candidate

JAKARTA – Blue Origin will create a historic event for Ed Dwight, former Air Force Captain and native of Kansas City, USA. Because, Dwight will be America’s first black astronaut.

In 1961, Dwight made history when he was selected by President John F. Kennedy as the first black astronaut candidate in the US.

Unfortunately, after completing Aerospace Research Pilot School (ARPS) and receiving a recommendation from the US Air Force to continue in this program, he was not selected for the NASA Astronaut Corps. As a result, they missed the opportunity to fly into space.

Now, six decades later, Dwight will be aboard Blue Origin’s newest New Shepard space mission. This will be the seventh flight and 25th mission.

Her flight seat was sponsored by the nonprofit organization Space for Humanity and the Jaison and Jamie Robinson Foundation.

Before being selected for the Blue Origin space mission, Dwight switched professions from businessman to sculptor.

He created monuments to commemorate black historical leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Frederick Douglass, and Harriet Tubman.

More than 130 of his works are displayed in museums in the US and Canada.

Specifically for New Shepard-25, along with Dwight there will be Mason Angel, Sylvain Chiron, Kenneth L. Hess, Carol Schaller, and Gopi Thotakura.

For their journey into space, each person in the crew of six astronauts will carry a postcard created by students as part of Club for the Future, Blue Origin’s foundation aimed at encouraging the next generation to explore careers in science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics(STEAM).

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