90-Year-Old Retired Air Force Pilot Becomes the Oldest Astronaut in Space
Since NASA first started selecting astronauts for their space program in the late 1950s, hundreds of thousands of men and women have applied. Most of these applicants are highly-skilled pilots, doctors, and scientists, all shining examples of their field. But out of this pool of highly-qualified expert candidates, only a few hundred have ever been selected to become NASA astronauts.
Yet against all odds, an early candidate who didn't make it into NASA his first time around got his second chance at the ripe old age of 90. On May 19, former NASA applicant and Air Force pilot Ed Dwight broke through Earth's upper atmosphere to become the oldest man in space.
Even before breaking a world record with his recent space flight, Ed Dwight lived a storied life. CBS Mornings touched on just a few highlights from Dwight's long and impressive career. In the early 1960s, Dwight, then an ace Air Force test pilot, was recommended for the space program by then-President John F Kennedy himself, who wanted an African-American astronaut in NASA.
A Life's Mission Realized
"In 1961, Ed was chosen by President John F. Kennedy to enter training at the Aerospace Research Pilot School (ARPS), an elite U.S. Air Force flight training program known as a pathway for entering the NASA Astronaut Corps," Dwight's bio reads on the Blue Origin website. Dwight successfully graduated from the ARPS program in 1963 and was recommended for the NASA Astronaut Corps but ultimately, he wasn't selected. An African-American astronaut would not fly to outer space until Dr. Guy Bluford launched on STS-8 Mission twenty years later.
Dwight would retire from military service a few years later, after which he became an entrepreneur, then a renowned sculptor, creating monuments of important Black historical figures like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Frederick Douglass. But the multi-talented Renaissance man never stopped turning his eyes spaceward, and 61 years after graduating from astronaut training, he finally got the chance to put that training to good use when he was chosen to fly on Blue Origin's newest rocket, New Shepard.
CNN reported that the New Shepard launched from Blue Origin's facilities in west Texas at 9:36 am local time. During the 10-minute mission, the rocket soared past the Karman Line 62 miles up- the point widely considered to be the border of outer space. At that moment, Ed Dwight, once the country's first Black astronaut candidate, became the oldest man in outer space. In doing so, he narrowly beat out the previous oldest astronaut: Captain Kirk himself, aka William Shatner, who also flew a Blue Origin space mission in 2021 at the age of 90.
The Other Members of the New Shepard Mission
Though the flight was autonomously piloted, there were five other crew members on board, with bios listed on Blue Origin's website alongside Ed Dwight's. There was Gopi Thotakura, a skilled aviator who "learned how to fly before he could drive," Thotakura has experience flying commercial jets, international medical jets, and even gliders and hot air balloons. Also joining the crew of the New Shepard were: retired CPA and world traveler Carol Schaller, software engineer and STEM advocate Kenneth L Hess, retired French military pilot and brewer Sylvain Chiron, and venture capitalist Mason Angel.
The New Shepard mission was special for all six crew members, but for Dwight, it was vindicating. Breaking the bonds of Earth's orbit under the callsign "Justice," Dwight defied a legacy of bigotry and discrimination that hindered the advancement of Black astronauts like himself, finally clinching his long-deserved triumph.
But even after accomplishing his life's goal at the ripe old age of 90, Dwight doesn't think he's done with space just yet.
"I would like to do more of it!" Dwight told CBS Mornings. "This was just, you know, just going up and coming down. I would like to go into orbit!"
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