Maezawa also said that he decided to expand his definition of “artist”, which he initially defined as singers, dancers, painters and other traditional creative fields. Now, it is open to include people from all walks of life, as long as they see themselves as artists, Maezawa said in a video ad on Tuesday.
The “Dear Moon” website, Maezawa’s name for her space mission, now includes a link where candidates can pre-register until March 14. Candidates’ initial screenings will begin on March 21.
There will be two main selection criteria: Candidates must seek to “push the bar” in their field of work, going to space “to help other people and society in general in some way” and must be willing to support their fellow members of crew during the voyage.
The eight selected candidates from the public will join Maezawa, who is paying for the trip and says he will take his passengers for free, and at least one other person. It is not yet clear who will claim the other places, although Maezawa said last year that he was looking for a “life partner” to join him on the journey. There will be 10 to 12 passengers in total, said Maezawa.
The Dear Moon mission will feature SpaceX’s massive Starship rocket, which is still in the early stages of development at the company’s test facilities in South Texas. Although some of the first prototypes performed brief “jump tests”, some of which flew a few miles above Earth, a full-scale prototype has yet to be built. SpaceX also hasn’t started publicly testing the Super Heavy, a gigantic rocket that will be needed to propel the ship into Earth orbit or beyond.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said during a recent interview with podcast presenter Joe Rogan that he expects Starship to operate regular flights in 2023, although it is unclear whether SpaceX will meet that deadline. The aerospace industry is notorious for projects that take much longer – and incur much higher expenses – than originally planned.
If the mission is successful, Maezawa’s crew will be the first group of private citizens to venture beyond Earth’s low orbit. Musk said in a video posted on Tuesday that the trip could also venture further than any of the Apollo missions NASA conducted in the 20th century.
The six-day mission is to spend three days arriving at its destination and taking a sling trip around the moon before returning home.