Argentine fans have been recording audio and video messages since Saturday in honor of Diego Maradona, who will be sent into space by a satellite called the Space Serpent, a nickname given to Maradona by a Uruguayan journalist.
“We love you and will always remember you. This is the new generation and all future generations! Hang in there Diego!” Enrique Trincado, one of the late star’s fans, told AFP after recording his message at de Morón Air Base, 40 kilometers away. west of Buenos Aires. The idea was born from a story by Uruguayan journalist Victor Hugo Morales after Maradona’s second goal against England (2:1) in the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. It is known that Argentina won the World Cup that year, which made Maradona gain more international fame.
At the initiative of a private company, the fans’ videos and audio will be compressed onto a hard drive and then sent into orbit by satellite, along with a pair of the former star’s football boots. Messages will be collected for months, and the date and place of the launch of the satellite will be determined later. Maximiliano Fernando Gallo, co-founder of the Cosmic Kite project, said messages from all over the world would be collected for the project. Notably, Argentina and Maradona fans have a plane to honor Maradona with photos and souvenirs in a traveling exhibition, and he will attempt to land in Qatar during the 2022 World Cup.
