Emily Chan
Six decades ago, Ed Dwight, now 90-years-old, was a candidate for the first African American astronaut.
However, the former Air Force test pilot was not selected. On May 19, Dwight finally got the chance to go to space, becoming the oldest person to reach space.
He, along with five others, were strapped into a New Shepard capsule developed by Jeff Bezos’ company Blue Origin.
Dwight’s crewmates included a retired accountant, a software engineer, an Indian pilot, a French entrepreneur, and a venture capitalist.
They launched into space that sunny morning from a site in West Texas. It was the company’s first New Shepard flight with passengers aboard since an engine nozzle failure occurred two years ago during a research flight without anyone on board. Last year, the same mission was attempted again, with success.
The recent passenger flight lasted 10 minutes. A rocket shot Dwight and his crewmates up to an altitude of 185,000 feet at 2,100 miles per hour before releasing the capsule they were in.
They reached an altitude of 65 miles, where they were able to unstrap themselves and experience three minutes of weightlessness.
When the spacecraft descended for its landing, one of its three main parachutes failed to puff up fully, but luckily, it was designed to touch down safely with just two parachutes, so the crew had no problems.
Dwight is the oldest person to have traveled to space, at 90 years and eight months old. He beat out actor William Shatner, who rode aboard a New Shepard in 2021 at the age of 90.
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