Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa has selected 8 crew members for his space journey. He will cover all costs for this special trip.
On December 8th, billionaire Yusaku Maezawa announced the list of 8 crew members who will join him on the first civilian mission to the moon. Notably, this space journey will feature rapper T.O.P from the South Korean group Big Bang and DJ Steve Aoki, known for his famous remix of “MIC Drop.”
Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa and rapper T.O.P (Photo: Indian Express/Kpopping).
This moon travel project is named Dear Moon, which was established and announced by Maezawa in 2018. He will fully fund the crew’s expenses.
The billionaire stated that space travel will help push the boundaries of all creative activities. For this reason, he prioritized inviting artists to join. Initially, he intended to invite those he admired and believed had potential. However, Maezawa later opened a competition where candidates could apply fairly through an online platform.
Ultimately, the 8 selected individuals are talented artists from various fields. The list includes: rapper T.O.P from K-pop group Big Bang, DJ and electronic dance music producer Steve Aoki, American YouTuber Tim Dodd, Czech choreographer Yemi AD, Irish photographer Rhiannon Adam, American filmmaker Brendan Hall, Indian actor Dev Joshi, and British photographer Karim Iliya.
Among the 8, T.O.P is a well-known name among the youth. His real name is Choi Seung Hyun, a rapper who rose to fame with the K-pop group Big Bang. He was honored to be selected for this journey, surpassing over 1 million applicants from 249 countries and territories.
On the morning of December 9th, he posted a video confirming his participation in Dear Moon: “I am very honored to be selected as a crew member this time. Since I was a child, I have always dreamed of space and the moon. I hope to gain many experiences and learn new things.”
He also mentioned that he feels no fear but rather pride. “I am very excited about the prospect of being the first Korean to go to the moon this time.”
Additionally, there are two reserve members: American snowboarder Kaitlyn Farrington and Japanese dancer Miyu.
In a video announcement about the journey on YouTube, billionaire Maezawa said: “I hope each member of the crew will realize their responsibility during this trip. I do not expect anything from them. I simply hope that those involved will have many experiences, which they can then contribute back to Earth and humanity.”
According to the mission profile on the Dear Moon website, the round trip from Earth to the moon on the Starship spacecraft (the next-generation deep space transportation system developed by SpaceX) will last 8 days, starting from the launch until returning to Earth (including three days orbiting the moon). Upon completion, the Starship will be the most powerful rocket ever built.
Although SpaceX’s Starship system has successfully conducted test flights in the atmosphere and landed, the company has yet to perform any orbital flights. Founder Elon Musk has repeatedly promised that this would occur by the end of 2022.
Last December, billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, founder of Japan’s largest online fashion mall, flew to the International Space Station (ISS) with filmmaker Yozo Hirano and Russian astronauts aboard a Soyuz spacecraft for 12 days. The cost of the journey was 10 billion yen, equivalent to approximately 1.7 trillion VND.
