Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa has chosen eight people with whom he will fly around the Moon on the SpaceX Starship. However, whether this flight will take place in 2023, as planned, is unknown.
Japanese billionaire will fly to the Moon on Starship
Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa announced the names of eight people who would fly with him to the Moon as part of the DearMoon mission. It involves a flyby of the moon of our planet on the SpaceX Starship spacecraft.
Maezawa became a billionaire thanks to an online clothing service and his own brand ZOZO. Back in 2018, he announced the dearMoon initiative. As part of it, he was going to go to the Moon together with eight “people of art” and several professional astronauts.
Initially, it was expected that this launch would take place in 2021. However, many delays in the development and certification of Starship forced them to reconsider these plans. However, Maezawa did not waste time and in December 2021, together with his assistant Yoho Hirano, visited the International Space Station.
So who did Maezawa choose?
All the people who will fly with him, Maezawa will pay for the trip to space from his own funds. There are:
- Steve Aoki — DJ, producer and electronic music artist;
- Tim Dodd is the founder of the Youtube channel Everyday Astronaut, covering a variety of topics related to the exploration of near–Earth space;
- Karim Iliya is a photographer whose works adorn the pages of National Geographic magazine;
- Yemi A.D. is a choreographer and artist who has collaborated with many famous singers;
- Rhiannon Adam is a photographer known for his social projects, his photographs are often used by the BBC;
- Brendan Hall is an American filmmaker known for his documentary works;
- Dev Joshi is an Indian television actor;
- T.O.P. is a South Korean rapper, known as the leader of the boy band Big Bang.
Two “spare” space tourists were also selected. They were dancer Miyu and snowboarder Kaitlyn Farrington.
The flight is scheduled for 2023. However, so far Starship has not received permission from the Federal Aviation Administration even to fly beyond Earth, let alone travel to the Moon. So, it is quite possible that dearMoon will have to be postponed this time.
According to www.space.com
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