Ed Dwight, the United States' first Black astronaut candidate, became the oldest person to go to space on Sunday as Blue Origin launched its New Shepard NS-25 spacecraft and completed its first human flight since 2022. The 90-year-old Dwight took his first trip to space more than 60 decades after President John F. Kennedy appointed him in 1961 to the elite Aerospace Research Pilot School -- the Air Force program from which NASA astronauts were chosen.
Sylvain Chiron, Ken Hess, Ed Dwight, Gopi Thotakura, Mason Angel, and Carol Schaller, at the Astronaut Village on May 17, 2024.
PHOTO: In this April 13, 1963, file photo, Captain Ed Dwight stands in front of the F-104 jet fighter. (Bettmann Archive/Getty Images, FILE)
Actor William Shatner was previously the oldest to fly to space. He was 90 years and 206 days old when he flew on a previous Blue Origin flight on Oct. 13, 2021. Dwight will be 90 years and 253 days old on Sunday.
John Glenn, at 77, remains the oldest person to actually launch into orbit. Blue Origin travels just above the Karman Line, about 62 miles above Earth and NASA's definition of space, while Glenn went 100 miles higher on the Space Shuttle Discovery in 1998. ABC News' Gina Sunseri contributed to this report.
PHOTO: This screen grab taken from a Blue Origin broadcast shows the Mission NS-25, with the New Shepard 4 rocket and crew capsule, taking off from the Blue Origin base near Van Horn, Texas, on May 19, 2024. (Handout/BLUE ORIGIN/AFP via Getty Images)
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