Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, who earlier said he would make a "big announcement" on Dec. 9, revealed that K-pop star TOP and DJ Steve Aoki would be among the eight crew members that he plans to take on a trip around the Moon on one of Elon Musk‘s SpaceX's rocket.
What Happened: Maezawa made the announcement on Twitter and on a website for what he dubbed the ‘Dear Moon' Project after he bought every seat on SpaceX's maiden lunar voyage.
This would make the space enthusiast and his crew the first private passengers on a SpaceX Moon mission with a week-long fly-by planned for 2023.
The 47-year-old founder of online fashion site Zozo Inc made a tourist trip to the International Space Station on a Soyuz spacecraft in December 2021. On board the ISS, the billionaire joined a seven-team crew and entertained his social media following by showing how to brush his teeth and make tea in zero gravity.
The billionaire used Twitter to recruit eight crew members from around the world for the Moon trip and said that over one million people had applied.
K-pop star TOP said in a video on Instagram after the announcement, “I feel great pride and responsibility in becoming the first Korean civilian going to the Moon.”
The eight-member crew includes Indian actor Dev Joshi and American YouTuber Tim Dodd, among others. U.S. Olympic snowboarder Kaitlyn Farrington and Japanese dancer Miyu were named as backup crew members.
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