Imagine if your next expedition were to the Moon. Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, an art collector and fashion guru, will pay for the tickets of eight lucky people to join him on a voyage to our lunar neighbor in 2023, aboard one of Elon Musk’s SpaceX crafts.
There’s a catch, sort of. He’s looking for participants who might better humanity in some way by going into space. He was originally looking for artists who could render the experience when they return home but decided to extend it to others who might also contribute. “If you see yourself as an artist, then you are an artist,” he says.
Is this too good to be true? Maybe…
Earthrise over the lunar surface. Photo: NASA
So far, space tourism has been only a concept. Companies like SpaceX have spearheaded the resurrection of space exploration after the end of NASA’s Shuttle program. SpaceX’s success with sending astronauts back into space has once again sparked the human imagination to reach beyond our planet. This would be the first manned lunar journey since 1972. It takes three days to get to the Moon and another three days back.
For eight people somewhere, 2023 is definitely something to look forward to…or look up to. Maezawa himself is most keen to see our “big blue Earth” from space and to see Earthrise as the spaceship reemerges from the dark side of the moon.
