
The Zambian “Afronaut” who wanted to join the space race (2017) - lelf
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-zambian-afronaut-who-wanted-to-join-the-space-race
======
dmix
From wikipedia:

> Nkoloso stated goals of the program were to establish a Christian ministry
> to "primitive" Martians, and the hope of Zambia becoming the "controllers of
> the Seventh Heaven of Interstellar space". However, he reportedly instructed
> the missionary in the space program not to force Christianity onto the
> native Martian inhabitants

------
krrrh
The artist Cristina de Middel, who is mentioned in the article, made a very
cool series of works on this subject. It features archived material as well as
imagined/staged photographs. Worth checking out even if you don’t read the
whole article.

[http://www.lademiddel.com/the-
afronauts-1.html](http://www.lademiddel.com/the-afronauts-1.html)

------
knolax
> Sardanis said, “everybody loved him, but at that stage, he was not being
> taken seriously . . . He was insane. Not a normal person.” Sardanis
> attributed this to what happened in Luwingu. “He was arrested and tortured.
> The Northern Rhodesian police tortured him. And after that, he lost it."

The article's really burying the lede there.

