As Dwight progressed through the Air Force, he was handpicked by President John F. Kennedy’s White House to join Chuck Yeager’s test pilot program at Edwards Air Force Base in California’s Mojave Desert.
That fabled astronaut breeding ground, site of “The Right Stuff,” might have turned Dwight into one of the most famous Americans and the first Black man in space.
Dwight astronaut future took a more drastic turn when Kennedy was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963.
“Everybody was wondering, ‘What’s going to happen with Dwight?’" says Dwight.
To the Black astronauts who followed in his footsteps, Dwight braved their path.
Persons:
Ed Dwight, he’d, ’ ” Dwight, Dwight, ”, “, ‘, John F, Chuck Yeager’s, Edwards, Kennedy, —, ” Dwight, Zoom, Guion, Bernard Harris, ” Harris, Ed, who’s, Lisa Cortés, Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, that’s, Eddie Dwight, Satchel Paige’s, Edward R, Murrow, James Webb, “ Yeager, Jimmy Stewart, Yaeger, ’ ” Yeager, Yeager, Tom Wolfe’s “, Bobby, Wolfe, ‘ What’s, ’, ” Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy, Patterson, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Barack Obama, it’s, Hurtado de Mendoza, isn’t, He’s, Chuck, Jake Coyle
Organizations:
Air Force, Edwards Air Force Base, NASA, Geographic, Disney, Century America, Negro Leagues, Kansas City Monarchs, Soviet Union, Sputnik, Mercury, U.S . Information Agency, Negro, Aerospace Research, House, Arizona State University, “ NASA, White, Congress, Civil Rights, Justice Department, Wright, IBM, Fine Arts, Sculpture, University of Denver, Orion
Locations:
Kansas, Korea, Hulu, Denver, Soviet, U.S, Edwards, Washington, Germany, Canada, Ohio