90-year-old KCK native is taking off to space, 60 years later

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (KCTV) - A Kansas City native is preparing to go to space — finally.

Ed Dwight Jr. is expected to be part of the six-passenger crew on Blue Origin’s seventh human flight, New Shepard-25.

The Jeff Bezos-led exploration company plans to take off May 19 from the site in West Texas.

Dwight, 90 years old, will not make history as the oldest person to go to space. But he still holds the title of the first African American astronaut candidate.

“If I would’ve gotten to go to space, that would’ve been great!” Dwight said.

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy made a pledge to the nation to land a man on the moon. To increase support for the space mission, Kennedy promised to send a Black person as well.

Dwight, 27 years old at the time, was enjoying his career as an Air Force pilot.

“I got a letter at the direction of the president offering me an opportunity to become the first Negro astronaut,” Dwight said.

The KCK native said he wasn’t interested in the opportunity at first.

“I didn’t see how it was going to help my career,” he said. “There was no track record yet of anybody doing anything successful in the space program because it was too new at that time.”

Dwight had to be convinced.

“My mom got involved. I told her about this letter and her first reaction was, ‘You’ve got to do this because you can help the race.’” Dwight thought, “If I did this and was successful, I would elevate the status of the race. I would provide inspiration for others to come along and join in.”

So, he sent in his information. Dwight says, “Four days later I got a response saying, ‘Okay, good.’ The rest became history.”

He was enrolled in test pilot school where he later graduated.

“I was going through holy hell. I was reacting to everything I was exposed to. I graduated 7th out of 17 in my test pilot class and everybody was surprised by that,” Dwight said. “They didn’t want me there.”

ALSO READ: The first-ever Hallmark Christmas Experience comes to Crown Center

But still, Dwight says he persisted.

“I was doing fine until the president died,” he said.

When JFK was killed on Nov. 22, 1963, Dwight’s dreams were brought down to earth.

“Everyone wondered what was going to happen to Ed Dwight,” he said. “The president was killed on Friday. On Monday morning when I went to work, I had orders in my box shipping me out of the country to Germany.”

After having a conversation with Former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, Dwight was assured he did not have to leave the country. But, he had to deal with the unfortunate reality that he was also not selected for the 1969 Apollo Mission to the moon.

ALSO READ: Stonestreet, Okoye join hands to support a ‘Greater KC’

“Then, President Johnson intervened. He told me he wanted his own Black astronaut. He said, ‘It wouldn’t be proper for me to send you to space when I should have my own astronaut — Negro astronaut. After three years, when we train our astronaut, we’ll bring you back and we’ll definitely send you to space.’ That’s what I was promised,” Dwight said.

It took 20 years for the first Black person, Guion Bluford, to make it to space.

In 1966, Dwight resigned from the Air Force and created his own history.

He has spent the last five decades creating more than 132 monuments of iconic Black figures across the country—including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Harriet Tubman, and Frederick Douglas.

“I could’ve gone away and gotten angry and sulked for the rest of my life and done nothing. But that’s not what happened,” he said. “I started a whole new venture in my life in art.”

More than six decades after Dwight was first appointed, he’ll finally experience a new form of art in space.

“To me, it was something that was supposed to happen because of the things and the way that I conducted my life,” Dwight said.

The non-profit Space for Humanity will cover the cost of Dwight’s seat with Blue Origin. According to Blue Origin, the launch window opens at 8:30 a.m. CT. KCTV5 will stream the flight.

ALSO READ: Kansas City broadcaster shines under national soccer spotlight

Copyright 2024 KCTV. All rights reserved.