Excerpt: Kansas City native Edward J. Dwight Jr. is set to be on the next Blue Origin rocket into space. The rare opportunity comes more than six decades after he was passed over to become a NASA astronaut. Dwight says he experienced feelings of rejection upon entering the flight-test program in the early 1960s that he believes were rooted in racism, revealing that the famed test pilot who ran the school, Chuck Yeager, resented having to accept a Black candidate.
Dwight’s historic candidacy as an astronaut has earned him increased respect in the space world. In 2020, the USAF named Dwight an honorary member of the U.S. Space Force, and in 2021, NASA named an asteroid after him.
Blue Origin has not announced a launch date yet. But Dwight and his crewmates will train for two days before liftoff at the company's Launch Site One in western Texas, not far from the Mexico border. When asked about concerns considering the rigors of the upcoming flight and his age, Dwight pointed out that it won't be much different from what he experienced as a test pilot in the USAF.
Dorit Donoviel, a space health expert, explained that the 11-minute flight of Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket means many of the reservations about the long-term effects of orbital and deep-space missions should not present any issues to Dwight.
Sources:
www.smithsonianmag.com/...
www.kcur.org/…
www.hngn.com/...