Nkoloso was born Edward Festus Mukuka Nkoloso in 1919, in the northern part of Northern Rhodesia. Some sources refer to him as "Edward Makuka Nkoloso". He was drafted into the Northern Rhodesian Regiment forces in World War II, ultimately serving as a sergeant in the signal corp. After the war, he became translator for the Northern Rhodesian 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. He was arrested and imprisoned in 1956 and 1957. Following his release, he was appointed as security official of United National Independence Party. In 1960, he founded the Zambia National Academy of Science, Space Research and Philosophy. In 1964, he participated in the Constitutional Convention.
Space program
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. Nkoloso hoped to beat the United States and Soviet Union's respective space programs at the height of the Space Race. To train the astronauts, Nkoloso set up a makeshift facility on an abandoned farm 11 kilometres from Lusaka where the trainees would be rolled down a rough hill in a 200-litre oil drum. This, according to Nkoloso, would train the men in the feeling of weightlessness in both space travel and re-entry. In addition, they used a tire-swing to simulate weightlessness. 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. The rocket, named D-Kalu 1, was a 3-metre by 2-metre drum-shaped vessel. Named after the first president, 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, but was purportedly denied permission due to being inappropriate. It is said that he then asked UNESCO for a grant of £7,000,000 in Zambian pounds to support his space program. 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. The term "Afronauts", coined by Nkoloso, refers to the participants of this program. Interviewed in 2016, former Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda said of the space program that "It wasn’t a real thing... It was more for fun than anything else.”
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. The rocket was claimed to have been sabotaged "by foreign elements". The Zambian government distanced itself from Nkoloso's endeavour. A photograph book Afronauts commemorating the events was self-published by Cristina De Middel in 2012. The short independent documentary film titled Afronauts directed by Frances Bodomo was premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2014.
Later life
He unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Lusaka, Zambia, emphasising scientific advancement. He was appointed by President Kaunda to the Liberation Center, 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. He retired in 1972. 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". He also served as president of the Ndola Ex-servicemen's Association and was made an honorary army colonel. He died on 4 March 1989, and was buried with presidential honours.
Popular culture
In 2014 Nkoloso was depicted in a film "Nkoloso the Afronaut" that was nominated at 2014 Uganda Film Festival. He also appears as a character in Namwali Serpell's novel The Old Drift, published in 2019.
