At age 90, America's first Black astronaut candidate has finally made it to space

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https://www.npr.org/2024/05/19/1252354052/blue-origin-rocket-ed-dwight-astronaut

At age 90, America's first Black astronaut candidate has finally made it to space
UPDATED MAY 19, 20244:52 PM ET
By

Scott Neuman

ap24039858440905_wide-0c5471a17da37124ec1454240203752fb0985b5d.jpg

Ed Dwight poses for a portrait to promote the National Geographic documentary film "The Space Race" during the Winter Television Critics Association Press Tour, Thursday, in February.

Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP

"Ed Dwight, the man who six decades ago nearly became America's first Black astronaut, made his first trip into space at age 90 on Sunday along with five crewmates aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket.

"The liftoff from a West Texas launch site marked the first passenger flight in nearly two years for the commercial space venture run by billionaire Jeff Bezos. The approximately 10-minute suborbital flight put Dwight in the history books as the oldest person ever to reach space. He beat out Star Trek actor William Shatner for that honor by just a few months. Shatner was a few months younger when he went up on a New Shepard rocket in 2021."

Some uplifting news.
 
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Hope he wore a watch. The Ed Dwight Speedmaster maybe ::rimshot::
 
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Hope he wore a watch. The Ed Dwight Speedmaster maybe ::rimshot::

That would have been epic, but no watch

 
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That is astonishing that you can send a 90 year old man into space safely now, he does look remarkably fit for a man of his years though.
 
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I guess the Shat will be back, it is a space race after all.

Or will that remain " unexplained"
 
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Interesting I missed this I’ve been following the Boeing mission I think they are trying again on the 25th. Boeing just seems to be having a run of bad luck
 
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Interesting that he was passed over for selection, I wonder what was wrong with him, perfect astronaut name and everything.
 
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Interesting story involving politics, but basically JFK wanted Ed Dwight among the astronaut Corps and finally the decision came to Chuck Yeager as commander of the USAF ARPS Aerospace Research Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base.
Of the basic test pilot group, only the first 11 could enroll into ARPS and Dwight wasn't among them. Although pressured by Washington, Yeager couldn't jump Dwight into ARPS but got orders to let the top 14 into the spaceflight course... despite PR campaign, in the end Captain Ed Dwight was not selected.
Edited:
 
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Hope he wore a watch. The Ed Dwight Speedmaster maybe ::rimshot::
Well Bezos' early astronauts are known for their bespoke Speedmaster chronographs...
 
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From trick shots to space on a decade.

Was scrolling through the YouTubes on space launches and saw one of the latest flights Blue Origin flight, one of the guys was a founder of the Dude Perfect channel. Never heard of them, they are the guys who made all the trick shot videos. Anyone from a younger demographic knows them very well.

As the scene in 'The Right Stuff' so aptly put it, no bucks, no Buck Rogers. I would add you need the marketing to draw eyeballs to the launches as well. The more sustained interest, the more people will want to do it, the lower the price will become, the more attainable it will be for more people. Space launches and space travel is again part of the cultural Zeitgeist.

So if we have to put up with the billionaires doing it for bragging rights or a YouTube creator who has a 60 million subs, I will argue it's better to have it than not have space travel at all. And seeing how the gov't spends our tax dollars, maybe space travel is better off in the private sector. Maybe.

Or...is all this a way for the gov't to fund a new space race without looking like it's a space race? 🤔
 
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Or...is all this a way for the gov't to fund a new space race without looking like it's a space race?
+1