The US’s first black astronaut trainee reaches space at 90

Lives Less Ordinary

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.6 • 814 Ratings

🗓️ 6 October 2024

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In May 2024, 90-year-old Ed Dwight Jr. from Kansas City, Missouri travelled to the edge of space – he was an honoured guest in the Blue Origin rocket. His trip was 60 years overdue. Ed had been chosen by President John F Kennedy to be the first African-American astronaut at a time when racism was rife and segregation a reality. But JFK’s plans for Ed were scuppered – and Ed had to pick himself up and build a whole new career.

Please be aware that this episode contains outdated racial language that may offend.

Presenter: Jo Fidgen

Get in touch: [email protected] or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784

Transcript

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0:00.0	On a winter's night in 1974, a crime took place that would obsess the nation.
0:06.9	It was an extraordinary news story.
0:09.1	The story of an aristocrat, Lord Lucan, who's said to have killed the family Nanny,
0:13.7	mistaking her for his wife, then somehow just disappeared.
0:18.0	One of the great mysteries in English criminal history.
0:20.7	We're still looking for Lucan.
0:22.1	It's honestly one of the most powerful stories
0:24.4	of my lifetime.
0:25.9	I'm Alex von Tundselman.
0:27.3	This is The Lucan Obsession.
0:29.2	Listen on BBC Sounds.
0:34.7	It was an emotional experience.
0:38.3	The launch itself, you know, having a rocket below you
0:42.3	that sound like it exploded rather than just lit up.
0:47.3	I'm up there in that capsule and right below me with this giant explosion
0:52.3	and it's scared to live in hell.
0:57.1	It's scared to live in hell out of everybody.
1:03.6	And then when the booster separates from the capsule,
1:07.3	the explosive boat was right underneath my seat.
1:10.3	They had two explosive bolts that blow up that separate the capsule
1:12.6	from the booster.
1:14.2	And I said, oh, this is how
	...

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