First private passenger to fly around the moon revealed

SpaceX has revealed that Japan’s billionaire entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa will become the first private passenger to fly around the moon. He will also be the first person to go to the moon since the US Apollo missions ended in 1972.

Hanging out with @yousuck2020 before the @SpaceX moon mission announcement pic.twitter.com/RTOwutzMtG

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 18, 2018

“Finally, I can tell you that I choose to go to the Moon! I choose to go to the moon with artists!” Maezawa, who founded Japan’s largest online fashion retailer Zozotown, told media, after being introduced by SpaceX boss Elon Musk at the company’s headquarters in California.

Maezawa is also a major art collector and will invite six to eight artists from a variety of fields on the week-long trip to inspire future works of art.

“These artists will be asked to create something after they return to Earth, and these masterpieces will inspire the dreamer within all of us,” Maezawa further said, adding: “What if Picasso had gone to the Moon? Or Andy Warhol or Michael Jackson or John Lennon?” he asked at the event. “What about Coco Chanel? These are all artists that I adore.”

I choose to go to the moon, with Artists. #dearMoon https://t.co/ivMypEcWBZ

— 前澤友作【お金配りおじさん】 (@yousuck2020) September 18, 2018