Reach for the stars

The untold story of America's Black space pioneers

- CAREN CLARK, REBECCA MAHONEY, RICHARD MCCLURE

In 1961, Ed Dwight was an aeronautical engineer and US Air Force captain when he received a letter from the Pentagon, authorised by President John F. Kennedy, asking him if he’d like to become America’s first Black astronaut.

But although Dwight underwent astronaut training with NASA, and was featured on the covers of magazines, he never got to achieve his dream. Instead, in 1963, NASA announced an all-white crew, famously known as the Mercury Seven, for America’s first spaceflight program. So what happened?

PUSHING AGAINST BARRIERS