That Nigerian astronaut that got lost in Space

There is this supposedly Nigerian email scam talking of an astronaut that got lost in Space. Well, apparently, this is not a new story: a google search reveals that the Register was, probably, the first to post the same in 2004. Currently, the same story is doing rounds on the Internet with the credit going to Anorak. I could have sworn I first saw the same courtesy of HN, about a week ago but I can't find the same on HN. Others have also been posting the same over the years. The Register's link: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/04/16/cosmic_419er/