{"id":38404,"date":"2023-01-16T22:47:40","date_gmt":"2023-01-16T22:47:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/afronauts-did-you-know-zambia-had-a-space-program-in-the-1960s"},"modified":"2023-01-16T23:13:34","modified_gmt":"2023-01-16T23:13:34","slug":"afronauts-did-you-know-zambia-had-a-space-program-in-the-1960s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/afronauts-did-you-know-zambia-had-a-space-program-in-the-1960s","title":{"rendered":"AFRONAUTS: Did You Know? ZAMBIA HAD A SPACE PROGRAM IN THE 1960S"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zambia. <\/strong><\/span>Did You Know? ZAMBIA HAD A SPACE PROGRAM IN THE 1960S In 1964, still living the dream of their recently gained independence, Zambia started a space program that would put the first African on the moon, catching up to the United States and the Soviet Union in the space race.<\/p>\n

Although it sounds unlikely during the 1960s, Zambia was home to a space program, but it was not a very successful one. It started because a Zambian citizen was intent on beating the Americans and the Russians in being the first to send a man to land on the moon.<\/p>\n

16-year-old Matha Mwamba was chosen as the first person to attempt a mission to Mars. Nkoloso claimed that by the end of 1964 the teenage girl astronauta, along with two cats and a Christian missionary, would make the journey to the Moon and then on to Mars.<\/p>\n

Asides from the space program, there was also a grant for \u00a37 million that was applied for in order to send 12 astronauts and a cat to Mars but this was denied and the space program failed. This is probably our favourite fun fact about Africa.<\/p>\n

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For More News And Analysis About Zambia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zambia. Did You Know? ZAMBIA HAD A SPACE PROGRAM IN THE 1960S In 1964, still living the dream of their recently gained independence, Zambia started a space program that would put the first African on the moon, catching up to the United States and the Soviet Union in the space race. Although it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":38403,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[234,235,233],"class_list":["post-38404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-zambia","tag-zambia"],"yoast_head":"\nAFRONAUTS: Did You Know? ZAMBIA HAD A SPACE PROGRAM IN THE 1960S - Zambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Did You Know? 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