Forget Branson and Bezos - Galaxionaut the guinea pig aims to be next space adventurer as part of Congolese DIY space rocket programme (costing just £110,000)
Guinea pig Galaxionaut to be launched to space by Congolese scientist
Patrice Keka, 51, is an engineer, physicist and mathematician from Kinshasa who is intending to send the intrepid rodent high above the earth's atmosphere.
A guinea pig named Galaxionaut is aiming to follow Richard Branson and Jeff Bezo into space as part of a Congolese DIY rocket programme.
Patrice Keka, 51, is an engineer, physicist and mathematician who is intending to send the intrepid rodent high above the earth's atmosphere.
Galaxionaut will be sent as a passenger and then sail back to earth in a parachute as a test to see if Congolese people would survive the mission.
Mr Keka has fashioned the metal rocket out of recycled oil drums and he intends to launch it 120 miles above the earth.
The inventor has previously launched five rockets since 2007, three of them successfully, with the furthest travelling more than 20 miles away from earth.
Space begins at an altitude of 60 miles meaning his next rocket would far exceed the limits of the earth's atmosphere.
The latest of Keka's creations is called Troposphere 6 and he believes everything has been calculated to perfection.
The rocket, which cost just £110,000 to build, should soar up then return to earth in a ballistic curve, he told Bild.
There is no space programme in the Congo, where 80 per cent of the population live on less than a pound a day.
Keka raised most of the money himself with help from Swiss scientists who contributed a third of the funds.
Mr Keka's construction has three floors and is 50ft high.
On the first floor is a metric ton of solid fuel in a shell made of oil drums, which gives the first boost to the rocket, together with two boosters carrying 50kg of fuel.
The boosters should drop after three miles and the first floor of the rocket will detach after six miles.
Mr Keka said: 'By then we have to have reached Mach 2.5 speed so that the engine on the second floor can ignite.'
Sensors will monitor the temperature and pressure in the capsule housing Galaxionaut while a ventilation system will also regulate it to keep the animal alive.
A camera will relay images to earth during the historic mission.
The guinea pig has been in training in southern Congo, and has been placed in a centrifuge to imitate space conditions.
The capsule containing Galaxionaut should return to Kinshasa should the mission be successful.
Mr Keka is planning the launch in a few weeks time from the village of Ngume, which prime minister Jean-Michel Lukonde has promised to attend.
The rocket scientist said: 'If everything works, I want to put telecommunications satellites into orbit for our country - and offer space tourism.'
