From 1960-1969 Zambia had a space program with ambitions of beating the US and Russia in the race to the moon. A retired school teacher set up facilities on Great North Road near the capital Lusaka. Training exercises, designed to simulate the effects of space travel, included disco-era calisthenics and rolling its 'Afronauts' down a hill in a 55-gallon drum.
The plan was to send a young cadette to the moon with two trained but uncooperative cats. If that trip went well there was to be a follow up mission to Mars involving 12 Afronauts and ten cats. The Space Academy submitted for but did not receive $7,000,000 in funding from the Zambian government and another $1.7 billion from the UN.
The Afronauts were championed by Captain Matha Mwamba, a 17 year old girl. However, Mwamba's parents pulled her out of the Academy when they discovered she was pregnant. "They won't concentrate on space flight," says the Academy's director, "there's too much love-making when they should be studying the moon."
The unofficial "Zambia National Science, Space Research and Philosophy Academy" had a tiny aluminum and copper rocket which they claimed was ready to be blasted into space. In addition the Academy's scientific pursuits, the program had an evangelical objective: to make Zambia "controllers of the Seventh Heaven Interstellar space."
There are BBC newsreels and newspaper clippings which document this remarkable program. Their 're-discovery' by the InHouse/OneWay design team launched this whimsical resurrection of the 'Afronauts.' Be a part of history with your very own Zambia Space Academy t-shirt!
AFRONAUTS shirts are on sale now at One Way Zambia outlets (contact one of us or check in at the Manda Hill Kiosk) - Adult sizes S-2XL Heather Gray + black "ringer" tee AND (shown above) white + black.
