Yusaku Maezawa was fascinated by the Moon ever since he was a kid. He is also a dreamer. “We all have the ability to dream dreams that have never been dreamt, to sing songs that have never been sung, to paint that which has never been seen before," said Maezawa.
And now, at 42 years of age, the Japanese billionaire has his dream-come-true as space entrepreneur Elon Musk announced Maezawa as the first tourist who will be voyaging the Moon on SpaceX's First Lunar BFR Mission. The mission will commence as early as 2023, 51 years after the Apollo mission by the US—the last manned lunar voyage.
Who is Yusaku Maezawa?
He is the founder of Japan's largest online fashion mall, Zozotown. Maezawa is the 18th richest person in Japan with a fortune of $3 billion, according to Forbes. However, like Alibaba's Jack Ma and Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Maezawa, too, had humble beginnings. Forbes documents that he started off by selling CDs and records of his favorite bands by mail from his home.
A fashion designer and connoisseur of modern art, Maezawa has plans to build a museum in his hometown Chiba, east of Tokyo.
An avid art collector, Maezawa made headlines when he bought paintings by Jean-Michel Basquiat and Pablo Picasso, for about $80 million.
On Monday, after Musk announced his name, Maezawa said he will invite eight artists and cultural figures, including a painter, musician, film director and fashion designer, to accompany him on his voyage. Interestingly, the lunar voyage will be an art project termed #dearMoon and produced by Maezawa, 238,900 miles away from the Earth. “They will be asked to create something after they return to Earth. These masterpieces will inspire the dreamer within all of us,” said Maezawa.
According to Musk, Maezawa is the "bravest" and the "best adventurer". “He stepped forward. We are honored that he chose us,” Musk said. But he had a word of caution, too: "This is dangerous, to be clear. This is no walk in the park”.
Musk said the Japanese billionaire clinched the tour after paying “an unspecified amount of money”. But he added that it would be “free for the accompanying artists”.
Interestingly, this is the first time that non-Americans would be traveling beyond the Earth's orbit. Until now, a total of 24 NASA astronauts—all white men—voyaged to the Moon during the Apollo era of the 1960s and 1970s. Of this, 12 walked on the lunar surface.
The lunar tour
The group of artists led by Maezawa would leave for the Moon, aboard a Big Falcon Rocket (BFR), which may not be ready for human flight for five years at least, Musk said. Lasting about a week, #dearMoon mission will go as close as 125 miles to the Moon’s surface before completing lunar transit and returning back to Earth.
First announced in 2016, the BFR was touted as the most powerful rocket in history, even more potent than the Saturn V Moon rocket that launched the Apollo missions five decades ago. It is the world’s only reusable orbital class rocket and spacecraft—capable of launching to space, returning to Earth, and flying again, said SpaceX. “SpaceX’s next generation vehicle—BFR—will be the most powerful rocket in history, capable of carrying humans to the Moon, Mars, and beyond,” the company claimed in a tweet on Tuesday.
Musk revealed the designs of the 118 m-long BFR, which will consist of a first stage with engines and fuel systems, and a second stage with the spacecraft where the passengers will ride. Like SpaceX's existing rockets, the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy, the first stage can detach from the rest of the rocket and return to Earth for an upright landing.
The spacecraft will continue on toward the Moon, powered by its own engines.
(With inputs from agencies)