Yusaku Maezawa reveals the eight crew members who will be part of the SpaceX-backed space travel to the moon for next year.
Japanese fashion retailer Zozo founder and space enthusiast Yusaku Maezawa announced Friday eight artists, athletes and entertainers as part of his crew on a commercial space flight around the moon that is planned for next year.
Maezawa named American DJ Steve Aoki and K-pop star Choi Seung-hyun, better known as T.O.P, former member of the boy group Big Bang, to join him on his trip dubbed the “Dear Moon” project.
Washington Post said this will mark the first civilian lunar orbital mission which will use a reusable launch vehicle developed by SpaceX, the American company founded by Elon Musk, and will approximately last for six days as the spacecraft will only fly around the moon.
In addition to T.O.P and Dj Aoki, the 47-year-old entrepreneur also added Indian actor Dev Joshi, American space YouTuber Tim Dodd, filmmaker Brendan Hall, British photographer Karim Illiya, Czech artist Yemi AD and Irish photographer Rhiannon Adam.
Meanwhile, US Olympic snowboarder Kaitlyn Farrington and Japanese dancer Miyu will be back-up crew members for the trip, selected from more than a million applicants as reported by NBC News.
“I hope each and every one will recognize the responsibility that comes with leaving the Earth, traveling to the moon and back,” Maezawa said in a video posted on his YouTube channel. “They will gain a lot from this experience, and I hope they will use that to contribute to the planet, to humanity.”
Space tours have now become an accessible means of recreation for the rich such as Tesla’s Musk and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos who have spent an unthinkable amount of money for trips that cater affluent civilians, which only shows the money can indeed buy happiness as long as you have an unlimited stash on standby.
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