SpaceX explosion blew up $200m Facebook satellite

The SpaceX rocket that exploded on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral also blew up a pricey Facebook satellite it was supposed to deliver into orbit, leaving social network company boss Mark Zuckerberg "deeply disappointed."

The four-minute-long explosion occurred as the 604-ton Falcon 9 rocket was being fuelled with a powerful mixture of liquid oxygen and rocket-grade kerosene propellant for test firing before its weekend launch.

The cause of the blast is still unknown and is being investigated, according to a tweet by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. He described it as a "fast fire, not an explosion."



No one was injured in the blast, which SpaceX referred to as an "anomaly."

"I'm deeply disappointed to hear that SpaceX's launch failure destroyed our satellite," Zuckerberg wrote in a post while traveling in Africa. He noted that the satellite "would have provided connectivity to so many entrepreneurs and everyone else across the continent".

Zuckerberg said other technologies are in the works to boost Internet access, adding: "We will keep working until everyone has the opportunities this satellite would have provided." Facebook already completed its first successful experimental flight in June of Aquila, an unmanned, solar-powered plane that will also be used to beam the Internet into remote areas.

Mark Zuckerberg visits Lagos, Nigeria

Zuckerberg landed in Lagos on Tuesday and visited a kids coding camp called CcHub in Yaba, a suburb of Lagos that's considered to be the city's tech hub

"The energy here is amazing and I'm excited to learn as much as I can," he wrote on his Facebook page.

When Zuckerberg visits another country, he always makes sure to go for a run. Here he is jogging across the Ikoyi Bridge in Lagos.

Zuckerberg also visited the Lagos office of Andela, a two-year-old Nigerian startup he invested $24 million into through his personal Chan Zuckerberg Initiative

Andela pays young people in Afria to learn how to code

The concept behind Andela is pretty straightforward, CEO Jeremy Johnson explains.

There is a shortage of software developers in the US. That's created a boom in coding “bootcamps,” which charge tens of thousands of dollars for a few months of training, and it has increased outsourcing to developers all over the world (especially Eastern Europe and India). Demand for coders, in other words, is huge.

There are also a lot of smart young people in Africa who don’t get the opportunity to become programmers. Obiora explains it like this: parents in Nigeria want their talented kids to become doctors, or engineers, or something established. That’s fine, he says, but software development should be on the table too. There's an untapped supply.

He held an hour-long Q&A with local entrepreneurs.

On Wednesday, Zuckerberg visited Nollywood, the country's film-industry epicenter. "Visited Nollywood, crashed a hip hop music video, and met some of Nigeria's biggest stars," he said.

Aliko Dangote Has Lost $5.4 Billion (35% Of His Wealth) Just This Year

Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote has lost more than a third of his wealth just this year alone (35%) this year, According to statistics, International business site, Bloomberg reports.

The 35% loss is equivalent to $5.4 billion, Bloomberg further reported. Nigeria’s economy officially slid into a state of recession for the first time in over two decades, the losses are attributed to commodities slump and the devaluation of the Naira in June, on Wednesday according to the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report.

Nigeria To Experience Solar Eclipse today

National Space Research and Development Agency (NSRDA) has announced that a solar eclipse will occur in Nigeria on Thursday, September 1, between the hours of 7:15am and 10:03am with slight variations in actual timing across the country.

In the Federal Capital Territory Abuja, there will be a partial eclipse, with an obscurity of 60 per cent, and the first contact at about 7:17am, with maximum eclipse at 8:32am and end at 10:00am.

Lagos will experience its first contact with the eclipse at 7:15am, with a maximum eclipse occurring at 8:32am and ending at about 10:00am. The Agency has arranged a viewing centre tomorrow to enable members of the public, pupils and students from various schools to view the eclipse using specially designed viewing instruments provided by the space Agency.

The viewing centre which has been set up by the Agency will be open to the public on Thursday 1st September, 2016 from 6:45am for school pupils and students to observe the annular eclipse as part of its continuous programmes to expose Nigerians and students to matters concerning astronomical environment.