All Astronauts
ROOKIERetired—
ROOKIERetired—Other·🇿🇦 South Africa·Born 1973
Mark Shuttleworth
First African in space.
240h
Hours in Space
1
Missions
0
EVAs
—
EVA Time
I don't expect my flight to produce a generation of astronauts and cosmonauts back home, but I hope it will encourage people to pursue their dreams.
What they aspire to
He hoped his flight would encourage Africans, especially young South Africans, to pursue ambitious dreams in science and technology.
Biography
First African in space. South African tech entrepreneur (founder of Ubuntu/Canonical) who self-funded a 10-day ISS mission as the second space tourist.
Before NASASouth African internet entrepreneur who founded the security company Thawte while at the University of Cape Town and sold it to VeriSign in 1999 for approximately US$575 million.
Notable Missions
Soyuz TM-34 / ISS
Beyond the Mission
Hobbies & Interests
skiingsnowboardingkitesurfing
Causes They Champion
Free and open-source softwareShuttleworth Foundation (education in Africa)
Languages
EnglishAfrikaansRussian
Awards & Honors
- Order of Mapungubwe (South Africa)
Fun fact
Two years after returning from the ISS he founded Canonical Ltd. and the Ubuntu Linux distribution, naming it after the southern African philosophy of shared humanity.
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