Japanese billionaire Maezawa unveils his crew of artists for a trip around the Moon
Steph Deschamps / December 10, 2022
Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa gave Thursday the list of eight people who will accompany him in 2023 on a space trip around the Moon aboard a SpaceX rocket still in development.
The mission, dubbed dearMoon, was announced in 2018. Yusaku Maezawa had initially announced that he wanted to invite six to eight artists, before opening up the spots to online applications.
The eight chosen are American DJ and producer Steve Aoki, American youtuber Tim Dodd, Czech artist Yemi A.D., Irish photographer Rhiannon Adam, British photographer Karim Iliya, American documentary filmmaker Brendan Hall, Indian actor Dev Joshi and South Korean singer TOP.
He also named two alternates: American snowboarder Kaitlyn Farrington and Japanese dancer Miyu.
"I hope everyone realizes the responsibility that comes with leaving Earth, traveling to the moon and back," Yusaku Maezawa explained on YouTube.
"They will benefit a lot from this experience and I hope they will use this to contribute to the planet, to humanity. »
According to the mission website, the trip would last six days, without landing on the Moon.
The SpaceX rocket to be used for this mission, Starship, will be the most powerful ever built.
Although it has already conducted successful atmospheric flights and then managed to land, it has not yet completed an orbital test flight. Its boss, Elon Musk has repeatedly promised that it will do so by the end of 2022.
Yusaku Maezawa, the wealthy founder of Japan's largest online clothing retailer, flew to the International Space Station on a Russian Soyuz rocket last year in exchange for 10 billion yen ($73 million at the current conversion rate), according to media reports.