Mandla Maseko
Mandla Maseko | |
|---|---|
| Born | 27 August 1988 |
| Died | 6 July 2019 (aged 30) |
| Occupation(s) | Military officer trainee, private pilot, DJ |
| Known for | Selection in the Axe Apollo Space Academy; Would have been the first Black South African in space. |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |  South Africa |
| Service | South African Air Force |
| Rank | Candidate officer |
Mandla Maseko (27 August 1988 – 6 July 2019) was a South African aviator, who aimed to be the first black South African in space.
Biography
[edit]He was born in Soshanguve, north Pretoria,[1] to an auto tool maker and a school cleaner.[2] He was a candidate officer of the South African Air Force,[2] as well as a private pilot, a DJ, and a biker.[3]
In 2013 he was one of 23 winners out of a million entrants to a competition[3] by the Axe Apollo Space Academy[4] to attend a US space academy, in order to be the first black South African in space. He was nicknamed "Afronaut" and "Spaceboy". He went to the Kennedy Space Center for a week to do tests, such as skydiving and a journey on a reduced-gravity aircraft, ahead of a planned one-hour suborbital flight[3] on board a XCOR Lynx Mark II[2] that was planned to take place in 2015. However, the flight did not happen as XCOR Aerospace went bankrupt in 2017.[3] He would have been the third South African in space, after Mark Shuttleworth in 2002 and Mike Melvill in 2004.[5]
He died on 6 July 2019 in a motorbike accident, aged 30.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ "Mandla on his way to space". Letaba Herald. 27 February 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
- ^ a b c "Bike crash kills South African man set to be first 'Afronaut'". The Guardian. Agence France-Presse. 8 July 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
- ^ a b c d e "Would-be African astronaut dies in road crash". 8 July 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
- ^ Stephanie Busari and Stephanie Halasz. "South African 'Spaceboy' set to be first black African in space dies in crash". CNN. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
- ^ Smith, David (23 December 2013). "Contest winner Mandla Maseko set to become first black African in space". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 July 2019.