He is the astronaut who did not travel to the Moon.
There are many indications, beyond his word, that the impediment that excluded Edward Ed Dwight from being chosen for glory was not the “have to have” that Tom Wolfe wrote. He did have what he had to have, except that his skin was black.
Today, turning 90, it has been just over six decades since Dwight obtained the distinction of being selected and being the first to receive training to become the pioneer of African-American astronauts.
It happened in 1961, during the presidency of John F. Kennedy, who understood that space was the next frontier and the stage in which to challenge the initiative undertaken by the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War.
The assassination of President Kennedy changed everything and this air force veteran saw his place in the history of lunar exploration come to a dead end due to racism and politics. Until 1983 there was no black astronaut in space.
Kennedy had opted to enhance the role of minorities in this area. At a time when the fight for civil rights raged, the government viewed the space race as having great public relations potential for the administration.
Chuck Yeager, the first pilot to break the sound barrier and then responsible for the aerospace school, thought that having Dwight was just a matter of diversity. Taking refuge in supposed difficulties in keeping up with his companions, he pushed him away from him.
He had to wait until this past Sunday to achieve his dream and he did so thanks to the return of Blue Origin, a rocket from tycoon Jeff Bezos’ company, after nearly two years of hiatus in flights with humans.
Already a nonagenarian, his challenge served to establish another record: he is the oldest person to fly into space. After landing, after a journey that lasted nine minutes and 53 seconds, reaching the Kármán line, the limit between the atmosphere and outer space, from where they could see the curvature of the Earth, Dwight stood on the steps outside of the capsule door, along with the other crew members, raised his arms and stated: “This has been a long time coming.”
And he recognized that what he had said before leaving, that in his life he no longer needed to fly “was a lie.” His trip was sponsored by the non-profit organization Space for Humanity. “We have helped correct something that should have been done much earlier, decades ago,” said Antonio Perone, its executive director.
Born in Kansas City, Dwight joined the Air Force in 1953. He rose to the rank of captain. Once he was selected, his popularity skyrocketed and he appeared on the covers of magazines like Jef and Evony as a pioneering pilot. Until his fame faded. His frustration led him to leave the military in 1966 and he made a living as a sculptor, focusing on African American history.
His fame was completely forgotten. In 2009, Charles Bolden Jr., NASA’s first black administrator, revived the figure of Dwight by paying tribute to him in his testimony before the Senate chamber. And in 2023, he appeared in the documentary The space race dedicated to black astronauts and the obstacles they faced.
“Ed is the beginning of a legacy, that of those we call Afronauts, because he had been the first, he would have stepped on the Moon with the Apollo,” said Leland Melvin, retired astronaut.
