Now that Guor Marial has seen his homeland and family, he is awaiting another great event. He is looking forward to the sight of other South Sudanese athletes at the 2016 Olympics.

This past May, Ghana launched its first, tiny satellite. Thousands of kilometers to the east, in Uganda, a 28-year-old scientist is working hard to get his country into the space race. Caty Weaver has our story.

Chris Nsamba's neighbor, Lawrence Okello, could tell that something unusual was happening. But when he first visited Mr. Nsamba's backyard in Kampala, it was hard to believe what he saw.

“I was so shocked. I couldn’t believe that, in Uganda, we can have a kind of achievement so impressive”.

Chris Nsamba is head of an organization called the African Space Research Program. He established it in 2009 after studying astronomy in the United States. Now he is working with a team of student volunteers in his mother’s backyard. They are trying to build and launch Uganda’s first space observer. Neighbors like Lawrence Okello have been watching the space probe take shape.

“There is a small project I saw him making. He called it a space observer. I heard him saying it’s going to capture a picture of Uganda from space. He showed me that it’s going to work. They are just preparing to launch it. But I know it will fly. It will fly.”

The probe is about the size and shape of a beach ball. Its equipment includes a camera and solar panels. Mr. Nsamba also plans to send a passenger on the first trip – a rat.