A guest attends the World Premiere of National Geographic's "The Space Race" during the Tribeca Film Festival at Hearth restaurant, June 12, 2023 in New York City.
Ed Dwight, a former test pilot who was the first Black astronaut candidate, opened up about the burdens he faced in the project. Dwight was recommended by then-President John F. Kennedy as a candidate for the NASA astronaut trainee program in 1961, according to the National Museum of African-American History and Culture.
The now-89-year-old became"a symbol of racial progress" amid the growing intensity of the civil rights movement. Charlie Bolden, a former astronaut and NASA administrator, says in the documentary that some NASA officials who were opposed to Dwight's candidacy terminated him from the program. Dwight shared in the film that he felt forced to resign at the time.