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At age 7, Gideon Gidori knew exactly what he wanted to be: a rocket ship pilot.

The only thing was, he was living in a tiny Tanzanian village where schools only went through grade six and books about space (or for that matter, any books) were scarce.

But that didn't stop him. Now 15, Gidori is determined to become Tanzania's very first astronaut.

Gidori has always been fascinated with stars and spent his boyhood nights staring at the clear skies above his hometown. "I think there is much more up there than there is down here, and I want to know what that is," he says. When he becomes an astronaut, he hopes his first stop will be the moon – one of Jupiter's moons, that is.

"They say that on Europa, there's life," he says. "I want to be part of the crew that investigates it."

With the help of Epic Change, his dream isn't just wishful thinking. The nonprofit, which raises money for education and technology, gave him a scholarship to study in the U.S. This May, Gidori completed his first year of flight training school at Florida Air Academy.

To finance his next school year, he's using the allure of potato salad. Tanzanian astronaut potato salad, to be exact.

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