Over the moon: Maezawa (centre) and the eight main crew members who he plans to take on the trip, as well as the two backup crew members. — Reuters
TOKYO: Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa said that K-Pop star T.O.P. will be among the eight people who will join him on a flyby around the moon on a SpaceX spaceship next year.
The tycoon launched plans for the lunar voyage in 2018, buying all the seats on the spaceship. He began taking applications from around the world in March 2021 for what will be his second space journey after his 12-day trip to the International Space Station on the Soyuz Russian spaceship last year.
The eight people Maezawa selected for his “dearMoon project” are T.O.P., who debuted as a lead rapper for the K-Pop group Big Bang; American DJ Steve Aoki; filmmaker Brendan Hall and YouTuber Tim Dodd, also of the United States.
The other four are British photographer Karim Illiya, Indian actor Dev Joshi, Czech artist Yemi AD and Irish photographer Rhiannon Adam. American Olympic snowboarder Kaitlyn Farrington and Japanese dancer Miyu were chosen as backups.
T.O.P.’s real name is Choi Seung-hyun. The 35-year-old started out as an underground rapper before joining Big Bang, one of the world’s top boy bands, in 2006.
T.O.P. said in a video released by the dearMoon website that he had always fantasised about space and the moon since he was a child and “I cannot wait”.
“When I finally see the moon closer, I look forward to my personal growth and returning to the earth as an artist with an inspiration,” he said.
Maezawa made the announcement on his Twitter and the dearMoon Project website yesterday, after he tweeted last week saying he held an online meeting with Elon Musk and that his “major announcement about space” was underway.
He and the others would be among the first to travel on the SpaceX vehicle. The trip is expected to take about a week.
The spaceship won’t make a lunar landing but is expected to come within 200km of the moon’s surface while circling it for three days.The trip is expected next year, though the exact schedule has not been disclosed.
Last year Maezawa, 47, and his producer Yozo Hirano became the first self-paying tourists to visit the space station since 2009. He has not disclosed the cost for that mission, though reports said he paid US$80mil (RM352mil). — AP
