America’s first Black astronaut candidate finally goes to space 60 years later on Bezos rocket

VAN HORN, Texas (AP) — America’s first Black astronaut candidate has finally made it to space 60 years later, flying with Jeff Bezos’ rocket company. Ninety-year-old Ed Dwight blasted off from West Texas with five other passengers on Sunday. Dwight was an Air Force pilot when President John F. Kennedy championed him as a NASA astronaut candidate. But he wasn’t picked. The trip made Dwight the oldest person in space. He eclipsed the record of “Star Trek” actor William Shatner, who flew in 2021. This was Blue Origin’s first passenger flight since a rocket crash nearly two years ago.