One small step for Roddan
JOBURG - A delighted Ward 74 councillor Jack Cooper gave his blessing and good send-off to Waverley resident and possible astronaut, Dean Roddan.
Roddan is in the running to land himself a seat on the Lynx spacecraft and possibly become the second South African in space next year.
The 41-year-old Roddan, a flight simulation engineer, jetted off to Orlando Florida, USA where he will train and compete in the AXE Apollo global space camp.
He will be up against two fellow South Africans, Mandla Maseko (25) a student and DJ, and shark diving enthusiast Haroon Osman (38), for one seat which is allocated and guaranteed to a South African.
“It is such an honour and just being there will be a privilege,” said Roddan.
He went through a gruelling semi-final stage at the South African space camp in Parys to be part of the three selected. He overcame a series of tests including fighting the forces of gravity to attach flags to a pole, skydived while dropping sandbags on a target and performed aerobatics in a stunt plane.
Cooper said it was amazing that Roddan had achieved this goal. “It’s a good experience for him and his enthusiasm tells me he’s going to do well,” said Cooper. “I think he’s the perfect candidate to represent South Africa, it’s amazing.”
Roddan said it was an honour that he was to meet pioneer Buzz Aldrin at the space camp, a former American astronaut and the second person to walk on the moon after Neil Armstrong. The five day camp will be held at the John F Kennedy Space Centre, a launch site that has been used for every Nasa human space flight.
Provided that Roddan wins the South African seat, he will be among 22 global finalists who will get the opportunity of seeing our planet from 100km in space and thereby achieve astronaut status.
