Ed Dwight

Edward Joseph Dwight Jr. (born September 9, 1933) is an American sculptor, author, retired test pilot, and astronaut. Enlisting in the U.S. Air Force in 1953, he earned a commission as a lieutenant in 1955. In 1961, at the direction of President John F. Kennedy, Dwight became the first African American to enter the Air Force training program from which NASA selected astronauts. Although he completed training at the Aerospace Research Pilot School in 1963 and advanced to the second round of the program, he was controversially not selected for the Astronaut Corps.

Dwight eventually traveled into space on the Blue Origin NS-25 mission in 2024, becoming the oldest person to ever participate in a spaceflight, a record previously held by William Shatner. In 2020, he became an honorary member of the U.S. Space Force during a ceremony at the Pentagon.

An accomplished sculptor, Dwight has completed a number of public monuments, including the Texas African American History Memorial on the grounds of the Texas State Capitol, and the African American History Monument on the grounds of the South Carolina State House.

Dwight was also a successful construction entrepreneur and occasionally "built things with scrap metal". Dwight's artistic interest in sculpting and interest in learning about black historical icons grew after Colorado's first black lieutenant governor, George L. Brown, commissioned him to create a statue for the state capitol building in 1974.Dwight owns and operates Ed Dwight Studios, based in Denver. Its 25,000 square feet (2,300 m2), facility houses a studio, gallery, foundry, and a large collection of research material. The gallery and studio are open to the public.

SOURCE - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Dwight (Sept, 2025)