Ed Dwight, a citizen of the United States now holds the record as the oldest man ever to space at the age of 90 years 8 months 10 days. He erased the record previously held by William Shatner which was 90 years, 6 months and 22 days. He took off into space last Sunday with the News Shepard-25 mission aboard Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin rocket.
This was Ed Dwight's first time in space even though he was the first black man to join NASA's astronaut program in the 1960s. However, racist policies caused him to never be sent into space by NASA even though he was eligible.
This is the third time Blue Origin has broken the record for the oldest man in space. In 2021, Wally Funk broke John Glenn's record at the age of 82. Like Ed Dwight, Wally Funk was chosen to join the NASA program but not into space because she was a woman.
Although all these individuals managed to go to space, they are only categorized as space tourists. To qualify to be called an astronaut, the crew has to control the spacecraft that carries them or perform activities that contribute to humanity or the safety of the next mission. The New Shepard crew performed a 10-minute mission and enjoyed a 5-minute gravity shift before the capsule returned to Earth.