Jeff Bezos flies an elderly retired Air Force pilot into space.
Following a hiatus of nearly two years, Jeff Bezos' billion-dollar space enterprise, Blue Origin, is once again taking space travelers on a trip to the brink of orbit. This time, on board with them is a former soldier who had once harbored aspirations of becoming an astronaut.
At an astounding 90 years, the former US Air Force pilot Edward Dwight is the oldest individual to have journeyed into space, a feat he accomplished sixty years after his failed bid for NASA's astronaut program. Joining him on this 10-minute excursion from the western American state of Texas was a capsule owned by Blue Origin.
At present, Dwight holds the record for the oldest person to have been in space, surpassing William Shatner by over two months when the 'Star Trek' actor embarked on his space excursion in 2021. For Dwight, this experience was nothing short of life-changing.
Dwight's Dream to Be an Astronaut
Dwight secured the title of being the United States' first black nominee for the astronaut squad. Supported in the 1960s by President John F. Kennedy, he was not accepted into the 1963 class that included Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins. NASA only started employing black astronauts in 1978.
This was Blue Origin's first time sending humans into space in the past two years. It was the seventh time the company carried space tourists into the great beyond. The specific cost of the passengers' trips was not revealed, though. For Dwight's seat, a portion of the payment was assumed by the nonprofit organization Space for Humanity.
After serving in the American military until 1966, Dwight moved on to working for IBM and founding a construction company. In the '70s, he completed his master's degree in sculpture. Several of his sculptures have since been carried to space.
Read also:
- This will change in December
- Dikes withstand water masses so far - Scholz holds out the prospect of help
- Fireworks and parties ring in 2024 - turn of the year overshadowed by conflicts
- Attacks on ships in the Red Sea: shipping companies avoid important trade route
Jeff Bezos, the founder of Blue Origin, chose Edward Dwight, a 90-year-old retired Air Force pilot and former NASA astronaut candidate, to join him on his company's return to space travel for space tourists. Recognizing Dwight's dream of becoming an astronaut that was thwarted by NASA's racial bias in the 1960s, Blue Origin collaborated with Space for Humanity to make this opportunity possible for Dwight.
Source: www.ntv.de
