It’s the kind of chance that appears only once on the blue moon: a Japanese billionaire is opening a private lunar expedition for eight people from all over the world.
Yusaku Maezawa, an online fashion tycoon, was announced in 2018 as the first man to book a seat on board the lunar spacecraft being developed by SpaceX.
Maezawa, who paid an undisclosed amount for the trip planned to be launched in 2023 at least, originally 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 to his Twitter account, he revealed a broader application process.
“I am inviting you to join me on this mission. Eight of you from all over the world, ”he said.
“I bought all the seats, so it will be a private tour,” he added.
Maezawa, 45, said his initial plan to invite artists “has evolved” because he has come to believe that “every person who is doing something creative can be called an artist”.
The Japanese businessman said that candidates would need to meet only two criteria: be ready to “innovate” creatively and be willing to help other crew members to do the same.
In all, he said that about 10 to 12 people will be on board the spacecraft, which is expected to revolve around the Moon before returning to Earth.
The enrollment schedule for vacancies on the trip requires that potential space travelers pre-register by March 14, with the initial screening carried out by March 21.
There are no deadlines for the next steps – a “task” and an online interview – but the final interviews and medical examinations are scheduled for the end of May 2021, according to the Maezawa website.
‘Highly confident’
Maezawa and his group of astronauts will become the first lunar travelers since the United States’ last Apollo mission in 1972 – if SpaceX manages to make the trip.
Last month, a prototype of his ship crashed into a fireball while trying to land standing after a test flight, the second crash, after the last prototype of the spacecraft had a similar fate in December.
But the company expects the 120-meter reusable rocket system to take crew and cargo one day to the Moon, Mars and beyond.
“I am highly confident that we will have reached orbit many times with the Starship before 2023 and that it will be safe enough for human transport in 2023. It looks very promising,” said SpaceX founder Elon Musk, in Maezawa’s video posted on Wednesday.
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 loop behind it, “we hope that people will go further than any human being has ever been to planet Earth,” he added.
Maezawa, known for his eccentric comments and extravagant lifestyle, including a penchant for expensive art, was valued last year at about $ 1.9 billion, making him one of Japan’s wealthiest people.
He made his fortune as founder of the online fashion store Zozo, which he sold to Yahoo! Japan in 2019.
Maezawa once made headlines with an online ad for a girlfriend to accompany him on his SpaceX flight – only to abruptly cancel the hunt, despite attracting almost 30,000 candidates.
The American space agency NASA plans to land astronauts on the moon, including the first woman, in 2024.
One of the goals of his Artemis III trip is to bring back a total of 85 kg (187 pounds) of lunar samples – more than the average 64 kg brought in by the Apollo missions between 1969 and 1972.