but lisa mentioned ed dwight. he was set to do that some 20 years earlier, but it didn't work out. him and tell us this story. >> he did not work out very simply because he was, he was the dream of one person, and that was president kennedy. when president kennedy was assassinated, within weeks, if not days, any dream of him becoming an astronaut was gone, because they just took him out of the the line of people who were potential astronauts. nasa went through a selection that year, and he was not among those that was selected, although everybody had given him the expectation that he would be. and the explanations, the funny thing is, there are no explanations. even to this day, you have history from him but there is no one on the other side to tell the opposing story. it's just everybody says, no, we never heard of that. geoff: and then dwight has since become a prolific artist and sculptor. >> i tell people that the greatest gift to the world was ed dwight not being selected as an astronaut. now, that may sound strange. he is one of the most prolific sculptors today. the one that

ed dwight, the first-ever african american astronaut candidate nominated by president john f.t the time, we only had 125 black pilots in the entire world. and they had to have an engineering degree. they had to be under 30. >> byron: he was 27. the air force captain met all the qualifications and then some. but a segregated america wasn't ready to see a black man in space. >> i thought it was an error on the part of president kennedy to appoint one person. here i'm supposed to carry all the load of a whole race of people. >> i should have known about ed dwight. that he could have been one of those men walking on the moon. that should have been in my history books, but it wasn't. >> nasa wanted to show they were engaged in equality for all -- >> byron: now in 2024, ed's story is front and center. new "national geographic" documentary "the space race." the film chronicling the largely unseen and untold history of black astronauts. former nasa astronaut lila melvin is one of the film's subjects and executive producer. >> i said look, we've got to get everyone to put their heart a

and to be able to focus on the beginning of the program and it whites journey as we -- and ed dwight'sething that was missing in the popular narratives being told and so rich in detail and legacy. geoff: guy bluford was the first black american to go into space in 1983. dwight was set to do that 20 years earlier but it did not work out. >> it did not work out because he was the dream of one person and that was president kennedy. when president kennedy was assassinated, within weeks if not days, any dream of him becoming an astronaut was gone. they told him out of the line of people that were potential astronauts. nasa went through a selection that year and he was not among those selected. although everyone had given him the expectation that he would be. and the explanations -- the funny thing is that there are no explanations. to this day, you have history from him but there is no one on the other side to tell the opposing story. everyone says, we never heard of it. geoff: and he has since become a prolific artist and sculptor. >> i tell people that the greatest gift to the world was e

ed dwight was the first black us astronaut candidate amid the civil rights struggles of 1963. i would have made it to the moon or whatever, man, but they were not going to let that happen. >> dwight says he's grateful for the chance to set the record straight. >> all these past stories that have been put in the press to justify my not going into space to see a black man in space. >> it would have changed things. >> the directors say each astronaut they interviewed told them they also had to talk with someone else. >> i'm here because others paved the way for me. you need to. you know, learn their stories to understand mine. and then their goal is always to make sure that once they've opened those doors, that other people are going to come behind them. >> we wanted to sit with them and hear their unfiltered emotion, emotional journey like victor glover, who spent more than six months on the international space station as protests over the death of george floyd continued on earth, prompting a call with other current and former black astronauts. >> s i was blown away to see all of

i >> think the biggest thing is how many kids out there have never heard of ed dwight, and never heardves going to mars one day. and the most diverse teams give you the best solution. so we need everyone at the table to help us from a technological standpoint. from helping us to save our planet, helping us get to the moon, and mars, and beyond. and i think that is the most critical part. you need to know that your history. >> tell us the world that no michele nichols played. the space convergence, he became a leading figure? >> michele nichols was gonna kill star trek. some saw her as the -- of the starship enterprise. and nasa hired her, they wanted to get the next women and minorities to get astronauts. so she campus the country to try to find astronauts. mayor, and even fred gregory saw the commercial and said if the women like that are in space, i want to be an astronaut! [laughter] >> my eight-year-old nephew is gonna be so impressed that we had a real astronaut on morning joe. and you yourself have logged over 500 hours in space, had a very illustrious career. as an astronaut, di

ed dwight would have been the first black astronaut. john f.ur services anymore. he flipped from becoming an astronaut candidate to a world renowned sculptor. that legacy of him doing that foundational work to get myself in space and guy bluford, all these people, working off his coattails. >> one of the things that strikes me about you doing this since you came behind them is there's always the story that many even to today, try and finish the path or finish the road that people ahead of us were, for whatever reason, not being able to do iit, in many cases, race. is that part of what motivated you to do this documentary? >> i think the big guest thing is how many have never heard of ed white, charley bolden. they need to be motivated to see themselves possibly going to marches one day. the most diverse teams give you the best solutions. we need everyone at the table to help us from a technological standpoint, helping us save our planet, helping us get to the moon and mars and beyond. you need to know history. >> tell us the role that michelle