Yusaku Maezawa, a 47 year-old Japanese billionaire, picked up the DearMoon Crew. This consists of 8 people, who are artists, that are flying to the Moon in a SpaceX Spacecraft next year. They picked artists because, after the mission, they want to see how they express the journey to the Moon and how it changes their lives.
These artists are:
Steve Aoki (DJ) - United States
Tim Dodd (Youtuber) - United States
Yemi A.D. (Choreographer) - Czech Republic
Karim Iliya (Photographer) - United States
Rhiannon Adam (Photographer) - United Kingdom
Brendan Hall (Filmmaker) - Australia
Dev Joshi (Actor) - India
T.O.P. (Rapper) - South Korea
The backup members are Miyu (Dancer) and Kaitlyn Farrington (Snowboarder) - Japan and US
This mission was announced back in 2018, to bring astronauts to the Moon again. The rocket is estimated to launch in 2023, however the spaceship has to do its orbital flight to be approved by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Mr Maezawa, who made his fortune in online fashion retailer Zozo, has become prominently involved in commercial space travel. Last year he went to the International Space Station on a Russian rocket for 12 days. In 2018, he was named as the first private passenger due to be flown around the moon by SpaceX and said he would sponsor the cost of eight other passengers on board.
