Contrary to popular belief and idiot marketing droids, Mark Shuttleworth is technically not the first African in space. This of course is dependent on your definition of “African”, but if that definition is “person born in Africa”, the title of First African in Space should go to Colonel Patrick Baudry, a French dude who was born in Douala, Cameroon on March 6, 1946. Colonel Baudry was part of the 1985 space shuttle Discovery crew.
Mark is still the first Durbanvillite1 in Space, and that’s something we can all be proud of.
To conclude this Shuttleworth special, it seems the man is a big Python fan. That does completely redeem him in my eyes.
1 Northern suburb of Cape Town, quite snobbish in a middle-class sort of way.