Yusaku Maezawa, a Japanese Billionaire and online fashion tycoon was the first man to book a spot to aboard the lunar spaceship being developed by SpaceX. Yusaku needs to fill eight spare seats on the lunar spaceship.
It’s the sort of chance that comes along just once in a blue moon: a Japanese billionaire is throwing open a private lunar expedition to eight people from around the world.
Yusaku Maezawa had paid an undisclosed sum for the trip and is expected to launch in 2023. Originally, he had planned to invite six to eight artists to join him on the voyage around the Moon.
But recently, he changed his mind. In a video posted on his Twitter account, he revealed a broader application process.
“I’m inviting you to join me on this mission. Eight of you from all around the world,” he said. “I have bought all the seats, so it will be a private ride.”
Maezawa said his initial plan of inviting artists had “evolved” because he came to believe that “every single person who is doing something creative could be called an artist.”
The Japanese entrepreneur said applicants would need to fulfill just two criteria: being ready to “push the envelope” creatively and being willing to help other crew members do the same.
The application timeline for spots on the trip calls for would-be space travellers to pre-register by March 14, with initial screening carried out by March 21.
No deadlines are given for the next stages — an “assignment” and an online interview — but final interviews and medical checkups are currently scheduled for late May 2021, according to Maezawa’s website.
Maezawa and his band of astronauts will become the first lunar voyagers since the last US Apollo mission in 1972 – if SpaceX can pull the trip off.
“I’m highly confident that we will have reached orbit many times with Starship before 2023 and that it will be safe enough for human transport by 2023. It’s looking very promising,” SpaceX founder Elon Musk said in Maezawa’s video.
The mission will be the first private space flight beyond Earth’s orbit, Musk said.
Because it will not land on the moon, but loop behind it, “we expect people will go further than any human has ever gone from planet Earth,” he added.
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Image Credits: Yusaku Maezawa
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