Beyond the Moon: Ryan Calais Cameron and Monique Touko on Ambition, Satire, and Zambia’s Space Dreams

Sun, Nov 01 2026 /Mpelembe Media/ — In 1964, as Zambia emerged from British colonial rule, former schoolteacher and anti-colonial activist Edward Mukuka Nkoloso announced an audacious bid to beat the United States and the Soviet Union to the moon. Establishing the Zambia National Academy of Science, Space Research and Philosophy on an abandoned farm outside Lusaka, Nkoloso trained a cohort of aspiring astronauts—later known as the “Afronauts”—using unconventional methods such as rolling down hills in oil drums and swinging from ropes to simulate weightlessness. His plans included sending a 17-year-old girl named Matha Mwamba to Mars alongside two cats and a missionary. Although the programme never launched due to a lack of funding and institutional support, leaving Nkoloso vulnerable to public mockery, the venture endured as a contested, compelling fusion of sincere anti-colonial optimism and pointed satire. Continue reading →