Africans must go to the Moon

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has demonstrated in his latest speech why Africa is not taken seriously by the rest of the world:

"We must also go there and say: 'What are you people doing up here?'."

Perhaps this man should read more or perhaps google "space exploration". He goes on to say:

"Uganda alone cannot go to the moon. We are too small. But East Africa united can. That is what East African integration is all about," he said. "Then we can say to the Americans: 'What are you doing here all alone?'."

Link

South Africa was reported in 2005 to have announced the future formation of a space agency but their expectations were a little more modest:
Link

I think its great that he thinks we live on the moon 24/7. hehe. wonder what those jokers who stayed IN america are doin??

you know what hes saying... im pretty sure he understands that we dont just hang out on the moon.

UNLESS, he let a major cat out of the bag, and that cat's name is.... ITSAMERICAANDNOTONLYDIDWEGOTOTHEMOONBUTWELIVEONITTOO

OOOoooo C'MERE LITTLE, ITSAMERICAANDNOTONLYDIDWEGOTOTHEMOONBUTWELIVEONITTOO, soooooo cutteee.

that would be pretty interesting if he just told everyone that we have people there all the time, and he wants people there all the time too

He's probably thinking that US Americans are exploiting the moon's resources already and wants piece of the action. I don't blame him and think the ambition is great, though I'd prefer African leaders to concentrate on fixing their current problems before aiming towards the heavens.

This is good and all. But if East Africa would unite to solve first health issues (like Malaria and HIV) , hunger/famine issue and minor issue of economical capabilities - then meeting with Americans on the Moon is more likely.

Exactly, i mean the UN already have a board or commitee or something to work out what rights certain nations can have in space and how that is exploited, as in who can stake a claim into what(i have my thoughts on this but that another thread i guess). Im guessing the Ugandan president has actually been paying attention at meetings and knows if they are not more involved they will miss out. It make perfect sense, and yeah it is a nice ambition, lets hope they can work on it.

If African countries were able to sort out their own internal issues and IF the African Union (AU) was able to form a common economic purpose then I guess they could accomplish some fairly serious goals.
Additionally, if the money towards buying military equipment was diverted towards scientific knowledge and education, then nothing is impossible.

The only problem is that if Zimbabwe was able to build a rocket capable of launching satellites, then the first thing they would attempt to do is bomb 10 Downing Street.

Majority of African governments struggle to implement basic infrastructure and support for their own citizens. My intuition dictates a space program is beyond their current capabilities.

While i do agree that it is highly unlikely that an African country or union do not seem likely to get to the moon anytime soon or have a viable space exploration program, plus they do percievably have more pressing matters at hand(dont we all though). I dont think it would be fair to say to them sort your own mess out first before you can have a go, a space program could have positive effects on local communities for employment and health. But i would see it a lot further down the road. Also there is no guarantee that when they decide to launch something the US will say its a missile program and shoot it down.

reply to post by pazcat


South Africa apparently did (and therfore still does) have the capability of launching long range missiles as early as 1983:
Link

This prompted the go-ahead for a civilian project in 1989 when ARMSCOR demonstrated a test booster rocket.
ARMSCOR also launched an Israeli satellite into space in 1989 from the Overberg Facility. This is an unconfirmed report though.
Here is more information on Overberg

and

Israel tests of Jericho at Overberg facility

General / Launch Complex Unknown Chronology

1989 June 1 - Launch Vehicle: RSA. RSA-3-d 1 Test mission Agency: Armsco. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi).
1989 July 6 - Launch Vehicle: RSA. RSA-3 2 Test mission Agency: Armsco. Apogee: 300 km (180 mi).
1990 November 19 - Launch Vehicle: RSA. RSA-3 3 Test mission Agency: Armsco. Apogee: 300 km (180 mi).

South Africa was eventually pressurized to abandon their space hopes but it is not unreasonable to think that some measure of development has been done since - technological development that the current SA government would be more than willing to share with the rest of Africa.

reply to post by deltaalphanovember


I think you took what he said out of context. I think what he meant was Africa wanted to join the elite company of the few who have been to the Moon. Or he could have been referring to reaching out to the stars and anyone else who lives out there. Just my two cents though.

reply to post by jkrog08


Of course you are right in that is what he probably meant in the broader context. How he said it is what I found humorous.
It is also painfully obvious that Space and Space Exploration is not his strong suit.
Thabo Mbeki was championing something called the "African Renaissance" a few years back - basically he wanted Africa to rise out of the muddy hole of war, disease and starvation, to unite and become an economic power much like India has become, despite being a colony only half a century ago.

What a powerful statement. It is too bad that the rest of the world does not have such high ambitions. Maybe he could start with "What are you Americans doing with so much FOOD?".

Yes, I heard the Ugandan space program is right on track. Seems like they were able to purchase an entire tractor trailer load of bottle rockets.

The problem has been in getting all of these bottle rockets attached to the lawn chair, and so far no volunteers to be Uganda'a first astronaut has stepped forward.

The are currently recruiting from the local prison with details to be released later.

This thread's depressing yet funny to read. He seems like he really wants to get up there.

an image from a top secret somalian test site..
elitemrp.net...

Maybe in 2109 but anything before isn't just shear wishful thinking but also a good indication of how little some African leaders still think of their people's desperate economic situations. South Africa did develop ICBM weapons that could be used to strike as far away as Europe but no one has so far suggested a good reason why we did or what purpose it would have served. For other Africans nations to talk about moon landings ( far beyond South-Africa even today) is utterly ridiculous.

You only have to look at the Chinese/ Indian/ Brazilian ( lets ignore the space shuttles that still blow up) space programs to see that as these nations keep investing they discover just how very expensive and difficult it is to get yourself into this particular 'club'.

Stellar