SpaceX moon flight to include DJ, YouTuber and K-pop rapper
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A private SpaceX voyage sponsored by a Japanese billionaire will take a professional DJ, a K-pop artist, and a space YouTuber around the moon.
Yusaku Maezawa, a businessman, introduced his team on Friday after combing the globe for musicians the year prior.
The two most well-known options are American DJ Steve Aoki and Korean sensation TOP.
The mission, which is planned for next year, might be the first time that people have visited the moon since 1972.
A spacecraft would circle the moon during the proposed fly-by and come within 200 kilometres (124 miles) of the surface. The journey would last eight days from departure to arrival.
However, US regulators have not yet given their licence for the SpaceX Starship rocket that the crew is supposed to launch.
The ship has been stranded in Texas for the past 18 months after successfully completing a test launch in May 2021 without even getting permission for an orbiting tour of the planet.
However, Mr. Maezawa made no mention of this delay in the film he produced to introduce the crew for the journey he’s calling DearMoon.
In the opening shot, Mr. Maezawa is shown standing in a Japanese garden and staring up at the moon. The first crew member, DJ Aoki, is then shown performing at one of his gigs.
YouTuber Tim Dodd, also known as the Everyday Astronaut, who has gained 1.4 million internet fans for his educational films on astronomy and space travel, will be the next passenger to be made public.
Mr. Maezawa has become a significant player in the commercial space sector. He amassed his wealth while working for the online clothing retailer Zozo. Last year, using a Russian rocket, he spent 12 days aboard the International Space Station.
He made a commitment to pay for the other eight passengers when he was named SpaceX’s first private passenger on a voyage to orbit the moon in 2018.
Mr. Musk asserted that Mr. Maezawa’s space ticket cost “a lot of money,” despite the fact that the amount has not been made public.
In 2020, he also began a documentary search for a new companion before ending the search owing to “mixed sentiments.”