Japanese millionaire offers 8 places for a trip around the moon

It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity: a whimsical millionaire Japanese It offers eight places for people from all over the world to accompany you A space tourism trip around the moon, Planned for 2023b SpaceX.

Yusaku Maezawa Online fashion mogul, contemporary art collector and patron, is the first private customer to book a flight on board Starship, The futuristic habitable missile developed by the Aerospace Company Elon MuskFor an undisclosed amount.

At first, she had to find a friend for her trip around the moon, with a bizarre contest aimed at “single women over 20”. But then He changed his plans, having received 30,000 requests, and announced that he would invite six or eight artists.

But in a video posted on Wednesday, the 45-year-old millionaire finally chose a much broader nomination process because he is convinced that “everyone does something creative that can be called an artist.”

I invite you to join me in this mission. Eight of you are from all the worldHe said, “I’ve bought all the seats, so it’s going to be a special trip.”

What profile are you looking for for the trip to the moon?

Candidates will only have to meet two criteriaA willingness to “push the limits” of creativity and help other crew members do the same.

Maezawa said a total of 10 or 12 people will participate in the expedition aimed at orbiting the moon. The calendar predicts that potential astronauts will be registered before March 14th The first selection will take place after a week.

Elon Musk is very convinced.

No dates have been announced for the next phases – “Mission and Online Meeting”. But the final interviews and medical checks are scheduled for the end of May 2021According to the millionaire website.

MaeZawa And his companions will become the first travelers to the Moon since the last American mission Apollo in 1972If SpaceX can do this project. Two prototypes of his missile Starship It has crashed on landing in recent months.

“I am very convinced that we will reach the orbital plane with the Starship before 2023 This safety will be enough for a human flight in 2023, Elon Musk said in the video Maezawa released on Wednesday. It’s very promising.

What is the first mission for tourism purposes?

Space x Expects to launch its first mission from Spatial tourism By the end of 2021, in low Earth orbit. This mission, called Inspiration4, will be done thanks to the reusable space shuttle Falcon 9 And spacecraft Dragon DSpace X crew, Already used before NASA.

The American millionaire will take part in this mission Jared AskmanWhich also offered three seats next to it. The first person selected, announced at the end of February, is a 29-year-old AmericanHe recovered from childhood cancer.