He had earned the nickname "Afronaute". Mandla Maseko, a South African who should have become the first African black in space, died in a motorcycle accident, his family announced Sunday (July 7th).
Mandla Maseko, a part-time disc jockey, died at the age of 30 on Saturday, July 6, according to a family statement cited by several local media outlets.
In 2013 he won the right to fly 103 km into space aboard a Lynx Mark American spacecraft.
Retained from a million applicants
He had been selected from among a million other candidates from 75 countries and was retained with 22 other people for a one-hour trip into space.
Following this tough selection, Mandla Maseko had to undergo numerous physical and mental fitness tests in the AX Apollo Space Academy competition, which was sponsored by the Anglo-Dutch company Unilever and a tourism company. Space Expedition Corporation (SEC). As a training session, he had to spend a grueling week at the Kennedy Space Academy in Florida: free-fall jumps, flying fighter planes and resistance to acceleration.
As such, this young man, from a township near Pretoria, was admired by many young South Africans, whom he sometimes encouraged at conferences.
Willingness to be a "model"
France 24 had met him in 2016, in Pretoria. "South Africans need models, people who inspire them, I want to be part of them, I want the kids, when they look at me, to say to themselves, 'Here is this young man who had nothing and who today, "said one who was also a helicopter pilot in the national army.
This morning, his death hit me differently. He was going to do so much for himself and this country ... This continent. I wish I had returned that call. He was such great friend #RIPMandlaMaseko pic.twitter.com/tUJD6Hwpi1
Ms. Thandwa (@Thandwa_Kolele) July 8, 2019He should have stolen in 2015 after winning the AX Apollo Space Academy competition, but that did not materialize.
The announcement of his death sparked excitement across the continent.
With AFP