It’s the kind of chance that appears only once on a blue moon: a Japanese billionaire opens a private lunar 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 lunar spacecraft being developed by SpaceX.
Maezawa, who paid an undisclosed sum for the trip that was expected to begin in at least 2023, initially said he planned to invite six to eight artists to accompany 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 this mission. Eight of you from all over the world, ”he said.
“I bought all the seats, so it will be a private trip,” he added.
Maezawa, 45, said his initial plan to invite artists had “evolved” because he came to believe that “anyone who does something creative could be called an artist.”
The Japanese businessman said applicants should meet only two criteria: be prepared to “push the envelope” creatively and be willing to help other crew members do the same.
In all, he said about 10 to 12 people will be aboard the spacecraft, which is expected to orbit the Moon before returning to Earth.
The app’s timeline for travel spaces asks potential space travelers to pre-register before March 14, with the initial review done before March 21.
No deadlines are set for the next stages (an “assignment” 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 band of astronauts will become the first lunar travelers since the last U.S. Apollo mission in 1972, if SpaceX can take the trip.
Last month, a prototype of its spacecraft crashed into a fireball while trying to land upright after a test flight, the second such crash, after the last prototype of the spacecraft. stellar would have a similar fate in December.
But the company hopes the 120-meter reusable rocket system will one day carry crew and cargo to the Moon, Mars and beyond.
“I’m very confident that we will have reached orbit many times with Starship before 2023 and that it will be safe enough for human transport in 2023. It looks very promising,” SpaceX founder Elon Musk said in Maezawa’s video released Wednesday .
The mission will be the first private space flight beyond Earth’s orbit, Musk said.
As it will not land on the Moon, but will sink behind it, “hopefully people will go beyond what any human being has ever gone from planet Earth,” he added.
Maezawa, known for his eccentric comments and extravagant lifestyle, including the trend toward expensive art, was valued at about $ 1.9 billion last year, making him one of the richest in Japan. .
He made a fortune as the founder of the online fashion store Zozo, which he sold on Yahoo! Japan in 2019.
Maezawa has previously headlined with an online ad for a girl to join him on his SpaceX flight, only to abruptly cancel the hunt, despite attracting about 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 recover a total of 85 kilograms (187 pounds) of lunar samples, more than the average of 64 kilograms recovered by the Apollo missions between 1969 and 1972.