They were perhaps living the dream or may be imagining they were but it all began decades ago. This was the era when news of Apollo 11 lunar landing broke out. News of man’s landing on the moon was beamed across the globe and the whole of USA went agog. The world was in ecstatic mood due to this exclusive scientific success.
In the meantime, somewhere in the remotest part of the world; in an unknown primary school on the University of Ghana campus the feat of the Apollo 11 astronauts impacted on the little minds of groups of school kids who started corresponding with NASA. One member of the group of kids carried his dream to the realms of the actual world later in life. He became a finalist in the selection interview for NASA astronauts in the USA. This child did not allow the rumours that came with the landing obscured his vision. There was rumour the astronauts who went to the moon returned to earth with an eye disease known as ‘Apollo 11’ in Ghanaian parlance.
The child who lived up to that dream is Fred McBagonluri, a Ghanaian-born top scientist currently living in the USA, where he is a Director of Research and Development for a global medical devices company. Fred is Engineer who holds a PhD degree in Materials Engineering.
He was a former employee of Siemens Hearing Solutions and works in the Research and Development (R&D) department. He made tremendous contributions to the development of Computer Aided Process Architecture and Automation. As a director of R&D Fred made much impact on the company’s application for 27 US/European/World Patents in the areas of computer aided design, artificial intelligence, 3D data processing and advanced hearing systems. He is Co-Inventor on three issued US Patents.
Fred’s massive contribution to engineering was recognized through out the United State of America. He was voted 2008 Black Engineer of the Year Most Promising Scientist. In the same year he also won 2008 New Jersey State Healthcare Business (NJBiz) Innovator Hero Award. This luminous feat brought him close to fulfilling his childhood dream of becoming an astronaut in the USA.
Becoming an Astronaut in the US
Astronauts in the USA are priced national assets and are given very high state recognition. They form part of the core elements of the NASA hierarchy and are well protected by the state. During the cold war era there were rumours astronauts slept in sealed bunks to prevent them from defecting to the former Soviet Union. The interview for the selection of scientists into a pool of future astronauts is one of the most difficult interviews on earth. Candidates who made it to the selected listed are professionals who have excelled in their various fields of endeavours.
Short listed candidates could be accomplished war heroes who have stood the test of time in difficult war fronts like the Iraq, Afghanistan, or the Gulf. They could also be top secret agents in the FBI or CIA or they could be top scientists who have made amazing discoveries. For instance finding cure for dangerous viruses like the AIDS virus or Ebola virus. Apart from their area of expertise candidates need to be mentally, physically and psychologically sound. The conditions in space are very harsh and hostile. Aspiring astronaut must be able to withstand the harsh conditions above the earth’s stratosphere without whimpering.
In fact the position of an astronaut in the US is highly coveted and adverts attract loads of applications. The high volume of applicants makes it very competitive. An applicant must be a super human to be a finalist at the first attempt as some top scientists in the US made several attempts to even reach semi final stages.
In 2007 the advertisement for the selection of the next class of US astronauts went out. Fred McBagonluri the Ghanaian born scientist decided it’s time for him to make history. He put in his application and went through a very lengthy selection process. He was eventually nominated by The Astronaut Selection Board as a semi-finalist from the list of about 4000 applicants. He went for interview at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX, in July 2009 and made it to final list of 47 applicants in his first attempt. This guy must be an academic monster to relive his childhood dream.
Fred was a stone throw away from achieving the feat of the first Black African born outside the US to go to the moon. Out of the 47 final applicants 9 made it through to become US future astronauts. It was believed the initial plan was to select 20 applicants which meant Fred would have been selected. The figure was revised to 9 due to budgetary constraints. This was the only obstacle that came between Fred and a dream trip to the moon.
Fred is a hero and it’s vital the Ghanaian government gives him the necessary recognition. The government should accord Fred and many such top Ghanaian scientists the necessary honours they deserved. The government should find a way of attracting these talents back home to help in our development process. In fact Fred is a top engineer with a monstrous talent and the government should make the effort to tap on his talents.
He almost made a history of becoming the first African to make it to the moon. With the experience he has gained from his first attempt to be among the elite class of astronauts in the US, the sky is now a limit. He has a huge chance of flying in the new generation of spacecraft nicknamed ‘the stick’ because of its thin looks. All Fred needs to do is to polish the rough edges and he could be on his ways to International Space Centre in space or to Mars in the near future.
The Ghanaian government should not wait till Fred makes a lunar mission before we start wooing him. The price will be too much for us to pay since his value will skyrocket. For a start, he could be invited to Castle by Atta Mills to acknowledge his enormous feat. He could also be marketed by the government as a role model for our present generation of engineers and scientists who have huge dreams of making it one day.
Francis Kwaku Egu
kwakuhull@yahoo.com