Go big, or go home...

As NYC is about to experience a solar eclipse (the first one since 2017!), I’ve been thinking a ton about space exploration. It reminded me of an amazing Zambian space program in the 1960s (you can read an article by Namwali Serpell here). It’s an interesting, whimsical, and unexpected piece on Edward Makuka Nkoloso, a grade school science teacher who founded the Zambia National Academy of Science, Space Research and Philosophy in 1960. The program’s main goal was to launch a rocket that would send 10 Zambians, 17-year-old Matha Mwambwa, and her two cats to the moon, and then to Mars. Nkoloso hoped to beat the United States and Soviet Union's respective space programs at the height of the Space Race. To train the astronauts, Nkoloso set up a makeshift facility outside of Lusaka, where trainees would be rolled down a rough hill in a 44 gallon oil drum to simulate the sensation of rushing through space. The rocket, named D-Kalu 1, was a 10 foot x 6 foot drum-shaped vessel.

The program ultimately failed due to lack of funds, and problems with morale and media. The program was short-lived, but it reflected the excitement and ambitions of a young country. Here’s a high school teacher that has lofty dreams despite his space program of 11 Zambians and 2 cats rivaling NASA’s 1960s ventures (a total of $21.35 billion) and the Soviet Union’s programs (somewhere between $5-10 billion). The message was simple but bold at the same time – go big or go home. At Impact Network, we’ve got some grand dreams of our own. In particular, we want to change the landscape of the education system across Zambia, and other developing nations. We’re bringing high tech solutions to extremely rural environments to prove that our students – in some of the most underserved areas of the world – can compete on a global stage.

If you’re interested – the movie Afronauts also details this space program; it premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. And Serpell has herself used this program as inspiration in her incredible debut novel The Old Drift (which I highly recommend).