Ugandan Seeks To Build Backyard Space Shuttle

An anonymous reader writes "Who says that only big, militaristic states are capable of manned space flight? The BBC reports on an attempt by Chris Nsamba to build what he hopes would be the first crewed spacecraft designed and built in Africa. Not that Nsamba, the Ugandan founder of the self-styled African Space Research Program, doesn't have any good role models. NASA's first African American flight director, Kwatsi Alibaruho, traces his roots to Uganda." Hopefully the press will help Nsamba's cause. I sincerely hope he makes it into space one day.

Comments

Backyard Space Shuttle....

[Joce640k]

These guys already beat him to it...

CmdrTaco's new job!

[Aighearach]

Test pilot!

I do.

[DarthVain]

I have no doubt they have the ability to make a "spacecraft".

Actually getting that in to space, particularly with squishy meat bags on board that don't want to go "pop", is another story.

Re:I do.

[Anne_Nonymous]

Bono was on tv this morning asking people to save their old rubber bands for the propulsion system.

Dear Sirs

[bill-kellerman]

FROM: Mr. Chris Nsamba

TO: Dear Sirs

Madam:

                I have been requested by the African Space Research Programme to contact you for assistance in resolving a matter. The Programme has recently finalized a large number of contracts for space exploration, in time producing moneys equalling US$40,000,000. However, because of certain regulations of the Ugandan Government, it is unable to move these funds to another region.

                You assistance is requested as a non-Ugandan citizen in moving these funds out of Uganda. If the funds can be transferred to your name, in your United States account, then you can forward the funds as directed by the African Space Research Programme. In exchange for your accomodating services, you will to retain 10%, or US$4 million of this amount.

                Please call me at your earliest convenience. Time is of the essence in this matter; very quickly the Ugandan Government will realize that the Programme will be maintaining this amount on deposit, and attempt to levy certain depository taxes on it.

Yours truly, etc. and so forth.

Chris Nsamba

Re:Why the idle?

[Rei]

This whole endeavor seems a bit like a cargo cult to me. I see no signs of actual scientific rigour, and instead just a "let's build things that superficially look like things we've seen before" attitude.

Re:simulating zero gravity

[a_nonamiss]

No. Completely different. Not even similar. What he's talking about is a wind tunnel that's turned up on its side, so that it's blowing upward rather than sideways. This way, people "float" around. It's nothing like a zero-G simulator. It's a skydiving simulator. NASA's vomit comet actually takes people up in in the body of a jet, and then goes into a calculated free-fall for a few seconds so that the plane, the pocket of air inside the plane and the people inside are all falling at the same rate, opposite the acceleration of gravity. This is what happens when a spacecraft is in orbit around Earth, except they can fall almost indefinitely because they fall at the same rate as the curvature of the earth.

Re:Why the idle?

[Teancum]

While this may seem a bit far fetched, there is a precedent for a small but determined group of people who I think will eventually be able to get some vehicles above the Kármán line and perhaps even eventually into orbital spaceflight. While not mentioned in the article, these groups have been able to do some impressive things.

The groups I'd compare to this effort include:

• Armadillo Aerospace - a couple of Texans with big dreams and a comparatively small budget (compared to NASA)
• Copenhagen Suborbitals - a bunch of crazy Danes who can't keep still. BTW, check out their submarine they built earlier... gives a whole new meaning to a ballistic missile submarine.
• ARCA - The European continent holds more than a few nut groups. These are the Romanians who have really gone out on a limb to redefine what spaceflight even means.
• Unreasonable Rocket - Just when you've seen it all, along comes a group who does even more with less. And these guys are from California.

My point here is that a small group with limited finances can put stuff together if they care, provided that they make the effort, experiment a whole bunch, and keep working at the issues. The nice thing about all of the above groups is that they've been around for a few years, seem to be pretty stable, and have all flown vehicles of various kinds to prove they are legitimate. These are not groups with pretty power point presentations, but rather folks that have more than a couple smoking craters from experiments gone bad as well as some amazing success stories too. I expect every one of these groups to be above the Kármán line within this next decade, and quite possibly one or two of them could achieve orbit in the next 20-40 years if they stay persistent with their business plans.

I certainly see nothing special about these groups, and it is entirely possible that a group in Uganda could join their ranks in their quest to build a cheap but quality rocket. There are some amazing resources to draw upon as well as a whole bunch of experience. Besides, Uganda doesn't have to deal with ITAR restrictions, so there may even be an advantage for them over some of their competitors.