Mandla Maseko facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Mandla Maseko
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| Born | 27 August 1988 Soshanguve, South Africa
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| Died | 6 July 2019 (aged 30) |
| Occupation | Military officer trainee, private pilot, DJ |
| Known for | Chosen for 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 (born August 27, 1988 – died July 6, 2019) was a South African aviator. He had a big dream: to be the first black South African to travel into space.
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Who Was Mandla Maseko?
Mandla Maseko was born in Soshanguve, a town north of Pretoria, South Africa. His father worked with car tools, and his mother was a school cleaner. Mandla was a very active person. He was training to be an officer in the South African Air Force. He was also a private pilot, meaning he could fly small planes. Besides that, he was a DJ and enjoyed riding motorbikes.
His Dream of Space
In 2013, Mandla entered a special competition. It was run by the Axe Apollo Space Academy. Over a million people from all over the world joined the competition. Mandla was one of only 23 winners! This win meant he would get to go to a space academy in the United States. His goal was to become the first black South African in space. People started calling him "Afronaut" and "Spaceboy."
Training for Space
Mandla spent a week at the Kennedy Space Center in the United States. This is a famous place where rockets are launched. There, he did many tests to prepare for space travel. He went skydiving, which is jumping from a plane with a parachute. He also flew on a special plane called a reduced-gravity aircraft. This plane flies in a way that makes you feel weightless, just like in space!
Why the Flight Didn't Happen
Mandla was supposed to take a one-hour flight into space in 2015. This type of flight is called a suborbital flight. It means the spacecraft goes high enough to reach space but does not orbit the Earth. He was going to fly on a spacecraft called the XCOR Lynx Mark II. Sadly, the flight never happened. The company that made the spacecraft, XCOR Aerospace, went out of business in 2017. If the flight had happened, Mandla would have been the third South African in space. The first was Mark Shuttleworth in 2002, and the second was Mike Melvill in 2004.
A Life Remembered
Mandla Maseko passed away on July 6, 2019. He was only 30 years old. He died in a motorbike accident. Even though he never made it to space, Mandla Maseko inspired many people with his dream and his journey.
