Blue Origin will send tourists into space for the first time since 2022

America’s first black astronaut finally went into space after 60 years, and he flew this Sunday. Blue appearanceRocket Company Jeff Bezos.

Ed Dwight President John F. He was an Air Force pilot when Kennedy proposed him as NASA’s first astronaut candidate. But he was not selected for the class of 1963.

Dwight, now 90, was able to enjoy A few minutes of weightlessness It traveled through space with five other passengers in the Blue Origin capsule.

Launch officials said all astronauts were safe shortly after the capsule parachuted down after about 10 minutes of travel.

Dwight set a new record for the oldest person in space, almost two months older than ‘Star Trek’ actor William Shatner when the short flight from West Texas took off in 2021.

This Sunday marks the first launch by the Blue Origin crew in nearly two years. The company was later shut down An accident in 2022 In this the booster failed, but the capsule full of experiments fell by parachute. Flights resumed last December, but no one was on board.

Dwight, now a sculptor in Denver, traveled with four businessmen from the US and France and a retired accountant. Ticket prices are not disclosed; Dwight’s seat is funded in part by the nonprofit Space for the Humanities.

Dwight was nominated by the Air Force to NASA, but was not selected for the Class of 1963, which included astronauts from the Gemini and Apollo missions. Buzz Aldrin Y Michael Collins.

NASA did not select black astronauts until 1978 Screenplay by Bluford He became the first African American in space in 1983. Three years earlier, the Soviets had launched the first black astronaut, Arnoldo Tamayo Mendez, Cuban of African descent.

After leaving the Army in 1966, Dwight joined IBM and founded a construction company before earning a master’s degree in sculpture in the late 1970s. His sculptures focus on black history and include monuments and memorials across the country. Many of his sculptures have flown into space.