The Time When Zambia Tried To Go To Mars

Edward Makuka Nkoloso of Zambia had dreams to land Zambians on moon and mars beating the US and USSR in the Space race. He did everything he could with his limited resources to make his dream a reality but could he fulfill his dreams? Spoiler - Nope. #space #spacerace #spaceprogram This video is narrated by Clundor. Check out his channel here - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq0zANl2rZi7MK8UjTadw_Q --------------------------------------------------------------------- Follow the channel on at least one of these to get updates about new uploads - Twitter - twitter.com/sidenoteYT Facebook - fb.com/sidenoteYT Instagram - instagram.com/sidenoteYT SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE - Music - "Freedom" by Alexander Nakarada - https://soundcloud.com/serpentsoundstudios/classical-freedom-free-download "Twisted" by Kevin MacLeod -------------------------------------------------------------------- The Zambian Director of the National academy of science, Edward Makuka Nkoloso had big plans to land Zambians on the surface of the moon but for Mars, his plans were even more ambitious. Makuka wanted to establish a Christian ministry to the presumed "primitive" Martians for which he was sending a spaceship containing a "specially trained" 17-year-old space-girl, two cats (also "specially trained") and a missionary to Mars. He graciously warned the missionary to not force Christianity on the people of Mars if they didn’t want it. The participants of the program were called "Afronauts", a term he coined himself. To train the Afronauts, a makeshift facility was created where trainees would be rolled down a rough hill in a 200-liter oil drum to give them the feeling of weightless in both space travel and re-entry. In addition, they used a tire-swing to simulate weightlessness. The rocket, named D-Kalu, was a drum-shaped vessel made of aluminum and copper, and according to Makuka, was "space-worthy". The planned launch date was set for the 24th of October in 1964, Independence Day, but it was purportedly denied permission due to being inappropriate. Makuka went as far as asking the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) for a grant of £7,000,000 in Zambian pounds to support his space program, a response to which he never got. It is also said he requested $1.9 billion from "private foreign sources".