25-year-old contest winner to become first black African in space
A 25-year-old DJ will make history as the first black African in space. Mandla Maseko is among 23 people selected out of 1 million entrants from around the world to partake in the Lynx Apollo Space Academy competition. The prize? The be blasted 62 miles into orbit aboard a Lynx mark II shuttle in 2015.
“It’s crazy,” said Maseko, the son of a toolmaker and cleaning supervisor.”I’m not trying to make this a race thing but us blacks grew up dreaming to a certain stage. You dreamed of being a policeman or a lawyer but you knew you won’t get as far as pilot or astronaut. Then I went to space camp and I thought, I can actually be an astronaut.”
Maseko will be the second South African in space following white entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth, who purchased a seat on a Russian Soyuz capsule.
The competition required Maseko to send in a picture of himself, and asked him to explain his motivation. He was among three South Africans– one black, one white and one of Indian decent selected.
Congratulations to Mandla Maseko for being selected to see the world literally from an entirely different point of view.
If you had to opportunity to visit outer space would you go? Why/why not?
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