National Geographic has released the trailer for the documentary film The Space Race which is coming to Disney+ in February 2024.
In 1961, U.S. President John F. Kennedy selected a young test pilot named Edward Joseph “Ed” Dwight Jr. to become the first African American astronaut. While Ed was ultimately not selected by NASA, his cultural impact paved the way for those that followed.
Check out the trailer below:
THE SPACE RACE weaves together the stories of Black astronauts seeking to break the bonds of social injustice to reach for the stars, including Guion Bluford, Ed Dwight and Charles Bolden among many others. In THE SPACE RACE, directors Lisa Cortés and Diego Hurtado de Mendoza profile the pioneering Black pilots, scientists, and engineers who joined NASA to serve their country in space, even as their country failed to achieve equality for them back on Earth. From 1963, when the assassination of JFK thwarted Captain Ed Dwight’s quest to reach the moon, to 2020, when the echoes of the civil unrest sparked by the killing of George Floyd reached the International Space Station, the story of African Americans at NASA is a tale of world events colliding with the aspirations of uncommon men. The bright dreams of Afrofuturism become reality in THE SPACE RACE, turning science fiction into science fact, and forever redefining what “the right stuff” looks like, giving us new heroes to celebrate, and a fresh history to explore.
Lisa Cortés and Diego Hurtado de Mendoza direct and produce. Frank Marshall and Tony Rosenthal of The Kennedy/Marshall Company executive produce the film, along with Carolyn Bernstein of National Geographic Documentary Films and Leland Melvin. The project is produced by Kennedy/Marshall’s Alexandra Bowen and Aly Parker, Diamond Docs’ Mark Monroe and independent producer Keero Birla. Monroe (Icarus, Lucy and Desi) also serves as the film’s writer.