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Sending tourists to space is still relatively novel in the grand scheme of humanity\u2019s journey to the stars. Dennis Tito took the first-ever paid trip in 2001, but since then, plenty of others have journeyed to the heavens. Increasingly, they\u2019ve done so via systems developed by private companies. On Sunday, May 19th, Blue Origin, originally founded by Jeff Bezos to pursue his dreams of humanity\u2019s future in space, successfully launched its seventh crewed mission \u2013 this time containing six first-time astronauts, including one that waited a long time for his day in space.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n The astronauts\u2019 professions and ages varied widely\u2014from a twenty-something male venture capitalist to a retired female CPA, they came from different walks of life and various stages of life. One owns a brewery in France, while another is a trained stunt pilot. Most impressively, this was the opportunity for Ed Dwight to go into space.<\/p>\n He\u2019s a former Air Force Captain who was the first black person ever to be selected for the Aerospace Research Pilot School, which he reached after being a test pilot in the Air Force for eight years. After making it through the first cut, Captain Dwight wasn\u2019t selected to join NASA\u2019s astronaut program, and many modern-day observers think that was simply down to the racism prevalent in the country back then.<\/p>\n \n