MUMBAI: Yusaku Maezawa, CEO of Start Today, Inc., has announced that eight crew members and two back-up crew members have been selected for “dearMoon”, the first all-civilian project to fly around the Moon aboard Starship, a rocket being developed by Space Exploration Technologies Corp., headquartered in Hawthorne, California, and founded by Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, Inc.
In March 2021, Maezawa, wishing to “open up the opportunity of going to space to more and more diverse talents”, put out a call on the official dearMoon website for crew members to join him on the Moon, and received more than one million applications from 249 countries and regions.
The profiles and interview videos of the eight crew members and two back-up crew members who passed the selection, interviews and medical check have now been released. The crew members from diverse backgrounds will fly around the Moon for approximately 7 days with Maezawa and return to Earth.
Crew Profile: Alphabetical Order
Rhiannon Adam
April 19, 1985 (37)
Nationality: Ireland
Activity: Photographic artist who is currently living and working between London and the US.
Steve Aoki
November 30, 1977 (45)
Nationality: United States
Activity: A 2x-Grammy- nominated music producer, artist, fashion designer and entrepreneur.
Yemi A.D.
November 4, 1981 (41)
Nationality: Czech Republic
Activity: Multi-disciplinary creative force, social innovator and choreographer who teaches creativity to people and organisations.
Tim Dodd
February 27, 1985 (37)
Nationality: United States
Activity: Content creator, photographer, videographer and musician. Host of YouTube Channel ‘Everyday Astronaut’.
Brendan Hall
May 1, 1994 (28)
Nationality: United States
Activity: Documentary filmmaker telling stories in the natural world and beyond.
Karim Iliya
April 20, 1990 (32)
Nationality: UK
Activity: Photographer and filmmaker based in Iceland and Hawaii.
TOP/Choi Seung Hyun
November 4, 1987 (35)
Nationality: South Korea
Activity: Musician, award- winning film actor and avid art collector.
Dev D. Joshi
November 28, 2000 (22)
Nationality: India
Activity: Professional actor with experience of more than 18 years and social media influencer.
Backup Crew Profile
Kaitlyn Farrington
December 18, 1989 (32)
Nationality: United States
Activity: An Olympic Gold Medal in snowboard halfpipe in the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games.
Miyu
December 3, 1997 (25)
Nationality: Japan
Activity: Dancer, choreographer and movement practitioner.
Maezawa fulfilled his dream of going to space by staying on the International Space Station (ISS) in December 2021. His next challenge is this “first all-civilian trip around the Moon in the history of mankind”. The crew members were chosen from among those who had been openly invited from all over the world to join them in this challenge to an unknown world.
Yusaku Maezawa said in a video message, “We received applications from about one million people from all around the world. Following a strict screening and selection process, today we will be announcing ten crew members. I had deep conversations with each candidate, asking them about their childhood, why they are dreaming about going to space, what kind of challenges they would like to undertake. They are all fantastic people. They all have beautiful smiles.
“There isn’t a set task for each of them, but I hope each and every crewmember will recognize the responsibility that comes with leaving the Earth, traveling around the Moon and back within a week. They will gain a lot from this experience, and I hope they will use that to contribute to the planet, to humanity”.
“The entire SpaceX team is excited for these extraordinary people to join the dearMoon mission! As they share their experiences flying around the Moon, this crew will inspire everyone back home on planet Earth,” said Jessica Jensen, SpaceX vice-president of customer operations and integration.
“In advance of their flight, the SpaceX team continues to make great progress in the development of Starship, a fully and rapidly reusable interplanetary transportation system. We look forward to flying this crew of artists, content creators, and athletes from all around the world who will travel within 200 km of the lunar surface as they complete a full journey around the Moon before safely returning to Earth.”
Born in Chiba prefecture, Japan, in 1975, Yusaku Maezawa founded the company Start Today Ltd. (currently ZOZO Inc.) in 1998 and launched the online fashion mall ZOZOTOWN in 2004. The company was listed on the TSE Mothers in December 2007 (3092) and on the TSE First Section in February 2012, and its market capitalisation exceeded 1 trillion yen in August 2017.
In September 2019, Maezawa stepped down as CEO at the same time as the company released its capital and business alliance with Yahoo Japan Corporation. Immediately after, he established Start Today Inc., and in 2021, he started 13 of his own businesses. In December 2021, he became the first Japanese civilian to visit the ISS, spending about 12 days on board. (ANI/NewsVoir)