Zambia. Edward Makuka Nkoloso, a Zambian professor and political activist, proposes a space program that, he claims, would land several Zambian astronauts on Mars, before the Americans or the Soviets. He selects 12 male astronauts, 10 cats, and a woman, and begins training by rolling them around in a large empty tank to simulate weightlessness. The woman soon withdraws because she is pregnant. The astronauts are specifically instructed not to try to convert Martians to Christianity unless they expressly wish it. The Zambian space program will be unsuccessful, and the Zambian government itself will soon distance itself from the initiative.
