
Congolese Rocketeer's Personal Space Race Turns Vermin into Astronauts - selimthegrim
http://www.wsj.com/articles/one-africans-personal-space-race-turns-vermin-into-astronauts-1446239060
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kvgr
Here is wiki article about his rockets:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troposphere_%28rocket_family%2...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troposphere_%28rocket_family%29)

I am rooting so much for this guy, his determination just made my day. Also
all his quotes and paraphrases are hilarious.

"Despite Troposphere 5 being equipped with an escape chute, Kavira(rat) was
never found and was officially reported to have died in the name of science."

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pierre
Here is a good report on Troposphere V launch (in french):
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrlKWtkce5I](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrlKWtkce5I)

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mintplant
Clear footage of the Troposphere V launch can be seen at 2:17 -
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrlKWtkce5I&t=137](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrlKWtkce5I&t=137)

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noonespecial
Putting a rat into space in a Ovaltine can is some serious "Zefram Cochrane"
level sh#t right there. Where can I donate?

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oska
> _“I will do my utmost to bring that rat back alive,” he says. “But if not,
> there’s a lot of rats in Kinshasa.”_

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veddox
And to be honest: good riddance if a few of them disappear while doing
something useful for a change ;-)

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mightymidget
Meanwhile US is getting to the state of calling out SWAT teams if a kid is
even thinking of making a model rocket.

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gus_massa
The Wikipedia article list a few projects in USA:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur_rocketry#Notable_event...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur_rocketry#Notable_events)

But they look like organized by a small team, not by a single man like in this
article. (Perhaps he has some helpers but the article didn't mention them to
simplify the story.)

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selimthegrim
The article mentions his hiring college graduates.

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galfarragem
It's always a pity to see wasted talent. Being able to make what he did in
that environment is really impressive.

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stuxnet79
Von Braun wouldn't have gotten anywhere if he didn't have the backing and
financing of Nazi Germany.

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mikeash
To be fair, he did much more interesting (and ethical) stuff when he had the
backing of the US afterwards.

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petra
Was there really a big difference - in the technology ? just the natural
evolution of past efforts, technologically speaking.

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mikeash
I don't know how much different the fundamental technology was, but the
results were vastly better because of the far greater resources and much
better goals he had with the US. Building advanced rockets on a shoestring
with slave labor isn't really a recipe for great success.

~~~
stuxnet79
Prior to Kennedy's promise to land a man on the moon by the end of the 60s,
the budget he was getting from the US wasn't all that great either. Dwight D
Eisenhower hated Von Braun because he had a tendency to overspend, and was
always begging for more funding.

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marcusgarvey
What a great story! Sure he will inspire so many kids to get interested in
science.

Also wondering: why does the headline say "African"? Africa is not a country.
I don't think the WSJ says "European" when they mean "French" or "North
American" when they write about somebody in Texas.

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zo1
Not to be offensive or anything, but for quite a lot of people, that's the
extent of knowledge they have of "Africa" as a concept. Even ones that do
know, they essentially clump all the individual countries into one bucket, and
use that for basing their assumptions/opinions. It's gotten better over the
years, but I've also gotten used to it. Also, I do my best to correct any
misconceptions they have about the place I've called home for quite a bit of
my life.

~~~
marcusgarvey
Sure, and they'll continue to have limited knowledge as long as the media
continues treating the continent like a monolith. WSJ readers are more
sophisticated than the average, I would imagine they could handle it.

