More than five years after Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa stood alongside SpaceX founder Elon Musk and announced his intent to become the first private citizen to fly around the moon, the since-named "dearMoon" mission on Friday named a roster of photographers, actors, musicians, and internet personalities set to join Maezawa on his journey.
In a short video introducing the newly-announced crew, acclaimed DJ Steve Aoki — one of the eight civilians tapped to participate in the lunar orbit — said "my soul is begging for this, it needs this."
Joining Aoki and Maezawa are K-Pop star Choi Seung Hyun, YouTuber and space exploration enthusiast Tim Dodd, and photographer Rhiannon Adam, who said she hopes to use the trip to "create work that does justice to this transformative experience."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
According to the public schedule posted to the dearMoon website, the mission is planning to launch sometime in the coming year. It will use SpaceX's "Starship" vehicle powered by its Super Heavy Rocket, which has, to date, not begun testing. As Gizmodo notes, SpaceX is currently under a nearly $3 billion dollar contract with NASA to demonstrate lunar landing feasibility for its Starship program by 2025.
"I'm very thrilled to have these amazing people join me on my journey to the moon," Maezawa, who became one of the few "space tourists" after visiting the International Space Station in 2021, said in a brief statement. "And [I'm] excited to see what inspiring creations they come up with in space."
-
Marie Antoinette Style at the V&A: a ‘magnificent’ exhibitionThe Week Recommends The UK’s first show dedicated solely to the French queen explores the complex woman behind the ‘bling’
-
8 riveting museum exhibitions on view in the fallThe Week Recommends See Winslow Homer rarities and Black art reimagined
-
Crossword: September 18, 2025The Week's daily crossword
-
Africa could become the next frontier for space programsThe Explainer China and the US are both working on space applications for Africa
-
NASA reveals ‘clearest sign of life’ on Mars yetSpeed Read The evidence came in the form of a rock sample collected on the planet
-
SpaceX breaks Starship losing streak in 10th testspeed read The Starship rocket's test flight was largely successful, deploying eight dummy satellites during its hour in space
-
Hurricanes are not exclusive to Earth. They can happen in space.Under the radar These storms may cause navigational problems
-
Rabbits with 'horns' sighted across Coloradospeed read These creatures are infected with the 'mostly harmless' Shope papilloma virus
-
Why does the US want to put nuclear reactors on the moon?Today's Big Question The plans come as NASA is facing significant budget cuts
-
Lithium shows promise in Alzheimer's studySpeed Read Potential new treatments could use small amounts of the common metal
-
Scientists discover cause of massive sea star die-offSpeed Read A bacteria related to cholera has been found responsible for the deaths of more than 5 billion sea stars
