It’s been more than four decades since Apollo 17 returned from its trip to the moon and no man has been there since. Now SpaceX founder Elon Musk plans to send someone around the moon in 2023. Musk revealed Monday night that Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa would become the first
It’s been more than four decades since Apollo 17 returned from its trip to the moon and no man has been there since. Now SpaceX founder Elon Musk plans to send someone around the moon in 2023.
Musk revealed Monday night that Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa would become the first private passenger to make the around-the-moon trip on the Big Falcon Rocket launch vehicle, Mashable reported.
The announcement, which was teased on Twitter last week, came during a celebratory event at the company’s headquarters in Hawthorne, California.
Maezawa, a fashion tycoon and founder of ZoZotown, Japan’s largest online fashion mall, purchased all of the seats for the future space mission.
“Ever since I was a kid, I have loved the moon,” Maezawa said, according to Mashable. “Just staring at the moon, it filled my imagination.”
The 42-year-old art collector said he plans to bring six to eights artists from around the world to tag along with him on the weeklong trip to the moon.
“They will be asked to create something after they return to Earth. These masterpieces will inspire the dreamer within all of us,” Maezawa told reporters, BBC News reported.
The rocket’s passengers will not be landing on the moon during the mission.
