Among them is Mandla Maseko from South Africa, the second South African and first Black South African to be selected to be amongst the next generation of space heroes. Maseko, from Mabopane township in Pretoria, is a 25-year-old aspiring DJ.
The winners will receive tickets to fly on XCOR Aerospace's Lynx space plane from Space Expedition Corporation, which is expected to start flying participants to space in 2015.
AXE partnered with Buzz Aldrin and kicked off its AXE Apollo Space Academy with the online contest on 9 January 2013.