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{{Infobox astronaut
| name          = Edward Mukuka Nkoloso
| other_names   = 
| image         = Mukuka Nkoloso.jpg
| image_size    = 
| caption       = 
| type          = 
| nationality   = [[Zambia]]
| status        = Deceased
| birth_date    = 
| birth_place   = [[Northern Rhodesia]]
| death_date    = 4 March 1989
| death_place   = 
| occupation    = Director, national academy of science <br /> liberation center representative
| current_occupation = 
| previous_occupation = Freedom fighter; teacher
| alma_mater    = [[University of Zambia]]
| rank          = Colonel
| retirement    = 1972
| awards        = Jubilee Medal "Forty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" (1984)
}}

'''Edward Festus Mukuka Nkoloso''' was a resident of [[Zambia]]. He joined the British forces in World War II, and served as a sergeant in the signal corp. After the war, he became translator for the [[Northern Rhodesia]]n government. He was also a grade school teacher, and opened a new school, which was purportedly shut down by British authorities. He then joined the resistance movement.<ref name="FacesOfAfrica" /><ref name="Banda" /><ref name="Chimpinde" /><ref name="Time" /> He was arrested and imprisoned in 1956 and 1957.<ref name="FacesOfAfrica" /> Following his release, he was appointed as security official of [[United National Independence Party]].<ref name="FacesOfAfrica" /><ref name="LusakaYears" /> In 1960, he founded the Zambia National Academy of Science, Space Research and Philosophy.<ref name="FacesOfAfrica" /><ref name="Time" /><ref name="LusakaYears" /><ref name="ITN" /><ref name="Gettysburg" /> In 1964, he participated in the Constitutional Convention.<ref name="Chimpinde" />

==Space program==
<!-- linked from redirect [[Afronauts]] -->
From 1960 until sometime after 1969, this program sought to accomplish the launching of a rocket that would send one girl, 17-year-old Matha Mwambwa, and two cats to the moon. There were also plans for a trip to Mars.<ref name="FacesOfAfrica" /> Nkoloso hoped to beat the United States and Soviet Union's respective space programs at the height of the Space Race.<ref name="bootsnall" />

To train the astronauts, Nkoloso set up a makeshift facility on an abandoned farm seven miles from Lusaka where the trainees would be rolled down a rough hill in a 44-gallon oil drum.<ref name="FacesOfAfrica" /> This, according to Nkoloso, would train the men in the feeling of weightlessness in both space travel and re-entry.<ref name="Time" /><ref name="ITN" /><ref name="Gettysburg" /> In addition, they used a tire-swing to simulate weightlessness.<ref name="FacesOfAfrica" /><ref name="Time" /><ref name="Gettysburg" />

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.<ref name="bootsnall" />{{unreliable source?|date=December 2013}}

The rocket, named D-Kalu 1, was a 10-foot x 6-foot drum-shaped vessel.<ref name="FacesOfAfrica" /><ref name="Middel" /> Named after the first president, [[Kenneth Kaunda|Kenneth David Kaunda]], he claimed it was made of aluminium and copper, and space worthy. The planned launch date was on 24 October 1964, Independence Day, and would take place from the [[Independence Stadium (Zambia)|Independence Stadium]],<ref name="ITN" /> but was purportedly denied permission due to being inappropriate.<ref name="FacesOfAfrica" />

It is said that he then asked UNESCO for a grant of [[Zambian pound|£]]7,000,000 in Zambian pounds to support his space program.<ref name="FacesOfAfrica" /> It is also said he requested $1.9 billion from "private foreign sources". However, the Ministry of Power, Transport and Communication is reported as stating those requests had not been made on the behalf of Zambia.<ref name="Gettysburg" /><ref name="Ministry" />

The term "Afronauts", coined by Nkoloso, refers to the participants of this program.<ref name="FacesOfAfrica" />

==Aftermath==
Nkoloso stated the program failed due to lack of funds, the pregnancy of astronaut Matha Mwambwa and her subsequently leaving the program to return to her parents, and problems with morale due to media attention.<ref name="FacesOfAfrica" /> The rocket was claimed to have been sabotaged "by foreign elements". The Zambian government distanced itself from Nkoloso's endeavour.<ref name="Gettysburg" /><ref name="Ministry" />

A photograph book ''Afronauts'' commemorating the events was self-published by Cristina De Middel in 2012.<ref name="Middel" /> The short independent documentary film titled ''Afronauts'' directed by Frances Bodomo is slated to be premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2014.<ref name="SundanceAfronauts" />

==Later life==
He unsuccessfully ran for mayor of [[Lusaka]], [[Zambia]], emphasising scientific advancement. He was appointed by President Kaunda to the Liberation Center,<ref name="whiting" /> a movement for regional freedom. He championed government support for witch doctors on at least one occasion. He claimed that they should have a place beside physicians, and that they are an antidote for Christianity which had hurt Africa's medical skills, but states that he did not practice witchcraft himself.<ref name="whiting" /> He retired in 1972.<ref name="LusakaYears" />

He received a law degree from the [[University of Zambia]] in 1983. He was awarded the Russian Jubilee Medal "Forty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945".<ref name="FacesOfAfrica" /> He also served as president of the Ndola Ex-servicemen's Association and made an honorary army colonel.<ref name="Banda" /> He died on 4 March 1989, and buried with presidential honours.<ref name="FacesOfAfrica" />

== Popular culture ==
In 2014 Nkoloso was depicted in a film "Nkoloso the Afronaut" that was nominated at 2014 Uganda Film Festival.<ref>http://ugandafilmfestival.ug/new/nkoloso-the-afronaut/</ref>

==Related videos==
{{columns-list|2|
*{{#ev:youtube|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abVrYdYNAyU|420||Edward Nkoloso space programme|frame}}
}}

==References==
{{reflist|
refs=
<ref name="bootsnall">{{cite news
	|last=Nkoloso
	|first=Edward Mukuka
	|date=c. 1965
	<!-- repository=Lusaka National Museum -->
	|title=We're going to Mars! With a spacegirl, two cats and a missionary
	|location=Lusaka, Zambia
	|layurl=http://blogs.bootsnall.com/theglobaltrip/updates/002234.shtml
	|laydate=2004-04-18
	|url=http://blogs.bootsnall.com/theglobaltrip/updates/DSC00988marsprogramV.shtml}}</ref>

<ref name="Ministry">{{cite news
	|last1=Stett
	|first1=B
	|last2=Kamuyuw
	|first2=E N
	|date=November 1988
	|title=Zambia: Tomorrow the Moon
	|periodical=Investigator
	|url=http://ed5015.tripod.com/PaZambiaSpaceFlight2.htm}}</ref>

<ref name="Gettysburg">{{cite news
	|last=Royle
	|first=Dennis Lee
	|date=18 August 1965
	|page=6
	|title=Zambians Have Plan To Put African on Moon But Problems Mount Up
	|newspaper=Gettysburg Times
	|location=Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
	|url=http://newspaperarchive.com/gettysburg-times/1965-08-18/
	|agency=Associated Press
	|via=NewspaperArchive
	|subscription=yes }}</ref>

<ref name="FacesOfAfrica">{{cite AV media
	| people = Kabinda Lemba (Producer)
	| title =Mukuka Nkoloso the Afronaut
	| medium =Television production
	| publisher =CCTV News
	| location =Lusaka, Zambia
	| date =9 September 2013
	|url=http://english.cntv.cn/program/facesofafrica/20130909/100179.shtml }}</ref>

<ref name="Banda">{{cite news
	|last=Banda
	|first=Gabriel
	|date=6 November 2009
	|title=Africa in the Great War
	|newspaper=The Post Online
	|location=Lusaka, Zambia
	|url=http://www.postzambia.com/post-print_article.php?articleId=1454 }}</ref>

<ref name="Chimpinde">{{cite news
	|last=Chimpinde
	|first=Kombe
	|date=15 April 2013
	|title=New constitution leaves Barotse Agreement out
	|newspaper=The Post Online
	|location=Lusaka, Zambia
	|url=http://www.postzambia.com/post-print_article.php?articleId=31059 }}</ref>

<ref name="Time">{{cite news
	|date=30 October 1964
	|title=Zambia: Tomorrow the Moon
	|periodical=Time
	|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,876312-2,00.html
	|subscription=yes }}</ref>

<ref name="LusakaYears">{{cite book
	|last=Macmillan
	|first=Hugh
	|year=2013
	|title=The Lusaka Years: The ANC in exile in Zambia, 1963 to 1994
	|publisher=Jacan Media
	|location=Sunnyside, South Africa
	|pages=20–21, 98
	|isbn =978-14314-0821-4 }}</ref>

<ref name="ITN">{{cite AV media
	|date=14 November 1964
	|title=Zambian astronauts train for Moon trip – Interview with space academy director
	|location=Lusaka, Zambia
	|url=http://www.itnsource.com/en/shotlist/RTV/1964/11/14/BGY505190222/
	|agency=Reuters TV
	|archiveurl =http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9Do3dz9TR0
	|archivedate =11 January 2011 }}</ref>

<ref name="Middel">{{cite web
	|last=De Middel
	|first=Christina
	|title=Afronauts
	|year=2012
	|url=http://www.lademiddel.com/eng/ldmeng.html Afronauts}}</ref>

<ref name="whiting">{{cite news
	|last=Whiting
	|first=Kenneth L
	|date=11 March 1970
	|page=8
	|title=Support Your Witch Doctor, Zambian Says
	|newspaper=The Courier News
	|location=Blytheville, Arkansas
	|url=http://newspaperarchive.com/blytheville-courier-news/1970-03-11/page-8
	|agency=Associated Press
	|via=NewspaperArchive
	|subscription=yes }}</ref>

<ref name="SundanceAfronauts">{{cite web
	|title=Afronauts
	|publisher=Sundance Film Festival
	|year=2014
	|url=http://filmguide.sundance.org/film/14019/afronauts Afronauts}}</ref>
}}

==Further reading==
* Patrick Moore, (1972), ''Can you speak Venusian?: A guide to independent thinkers''. David and Charles

==External links==
* {{YouTube|NL5gEpkATTA|Interview}}{{dead link|date=July 2015}}

{{Portal bar|Biography|Zambia|Spaceflight}}

[[Category:1919 births]]
[[Category:1989 deaths]]
[[Category:1964 in Zambia]]
[[Category:People from Northern Province]]
[[Category:People of Zambia]]