Sixty-one years in the past Dwight was an astronaut candidate. Sunday, together with 5 others, he made the journey on a rocket owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos — making him the oldest particular person to go to area.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Good morning. I am Michel Martin. Sixty-one years in the past, Ed Dwight almost made historical past as America’s first Black astronaut. He was within the high half of his class in take a look at pilot faculty however did not make the ultimate reduce to astronaut. However at 90 years outdated, Dwight lastly realized his dream of area flight, and made it into the historical past books. Together with 5 others, he made the journey on a Blue Origin rocket – Amazon co-founder Jeff Bezos’ firm – and that made him the oldest particular person to enter area, beating out Star Trek actor William Shatner by just a few months. It is MORNING EDITION.
Copyright © 2024 NPR. All rights reserved. Go to our web site phrases of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for additional info.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This textual content is probably not in its last type and could also be up to date or revised sooner or later. Accuracy and availability might range. The authoritative report of NPR’s programming is the audio report.
.jpg){kind=small}
