It’s the kind of chance that appears only once in a blue moon: a Japanese billionaire opens a private monthly expedition to eight people around the world.
Yusaku Maezawa, an online fashion mogul, was announced in 2018 as the first man to book a seat aboard the monthly spacecraft developed by SpaceX.
Maezawa, who paid an undisclosed amount for the trip scheduled to be launched in 2023 at the earliest, initially said he plans to invite six to eight artists to join him on the trip around the moon.
But on Wednesday, in a video posted on his Twitter account, he revealed a broader application process.
“I invite you to join me in this mission. Eight of you from all over the world, “he said.
“We bought all the seats, so it will be a private trip,” he added.
Maezawa, 45, said his initial plan to invite artists “evolved” because he came to believe that “every person who does something creative could be called an artist.”
The Japanese contractor said that applicants would have to meet only two criteria: be ready to “push the envelope” creatively and be willing to help other crew members do the same.
In total, he said about 10 to 12 people will be aboard the spacecraft, which is expected to orbit the Moon before returning to Earth.
The travel timeline of the application requires that potential space travelers pre-register by March 14, with the initial examination completed by March 21.
There are no deadlines for the next steps – a “pregnancy” and an online interview – but final interviews and medical check-ups are currently scheduled for the end of May 2021, according to Maezawa’s website.
“Very confident”
Maezawa and his team of astronauts will become the first monthly travelers since the last US Apollo mission in 1972 – if SpaceX manages to stop the journey.
Last month, a prototype of its wrecked ship crashed into a fireball while trying to land upright after a test flight, the second such crash, after the last prototype of the starship encountered a similar fate. in December.
But the company hopes that the reusable 120-meter missile system will one day transport the crew and cargo to the moon, Mars and beyond.
“I am very confident that we will be in orbit several times with Starship before 2023 and that it will be safe enough for human transport by 2023. It looks very promising,” SpaceX founder Elon Musk said in a video posted Wednesday by Maezawa .
The mission will be the first private space flight beyond Earth’s orbit, Musk said.
Because it will not land on the moon, but will rejoice behind it, “we expect humans to go further than any human has ever left the planet Earth,” he added.
Maezawa, known for his eccentric comments and extravagant lifestyle, including a trend toward expensive art, was valued at about $ 1.9 billion last year, making him one of the richest people in Japan.
He made his fortune as the founder of the online fashion store Zozo, which he sold to Yahoo! Japan in 2019.
Maezawa previously made headlines with an online ad for a friend to join him on his SpaceX flight – only to abruptly cancel the hunt, despite attracting nearly 30,000 applicants.
The US space agency NASA plans to land astronauts on the moon, including the first woman, in 2024.
One of the goals of his Artemis III voyage is to bring back 85 kilograms (187 kilograms) of monthly samples – more than the average of 64 kilograms brought back by Apollo missions between 1969 and 1972.