TOKYO (AP) — Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa mentioned Friday that Okay-pop star T.O.P. will probably be among the many eight individuals who will be a part of him on a flyby across the moon on a SpaceX spaceship subsequent yr.
The Japanese tycoon launched plans for the lunar voyage in 2018, shopping for all of the seats on the spaceship. He started taking functions from around the globe in March 2021 for what will probably be his second area journey after his 12-day journey to the International Space Station on the Soyuz Russian spaceship final yr.
The eight folks Maezawa chosen for his “dearMoon project” are T.O.P., who debuted as a lead rapper for the Okay-pop group Big Bang; American DJ Steve Aoki; filmmaker Brendan Hall and YouTuber Tim Dodd, additionally of the United States. The different 4 are British photographer Karim Illiya, Indian actor Dev Joshi, Czech artist Yemi AD and Irish photographer Rhiannon Adam. American Olympic snowboarder Kaitlyn Farrington and Japanese dancer Miyu had been chosen as backups.
T.O.P.’s actual identify is Choi Seung-hyun. The 35-year-old began out as an underground rapper earlier than becoming a member of Big Bang, one of many world’s prime boy bands, in 2006.
Maezawa made the announcement on his Twitter and the dearMoon Project web site on Friday, after he tweeted final week saying he held an internet assembly with Elon Musk and that his “major announcement about space” was underway.
He and the others could be among the many first to journey on the SpaceX automobile. The journey is anticipated to take a couple of week. The spaceship is not going to make a lunar touchdown however is anticipated to come back inside 200 kilometers (120 miles) of the moon’s floor whereas circling it for 3 days.
The journey is anticipated subsequent yr, although the precise schedule has not been disclosed.
Last yr, Maezawa, 47, and his producer Yozo Hirano grew to become the primary self-paying vacationers to go to the area station since 2009. He has not disclosed the price for that mission, although stories mentioned he paid $80 million.
Maezawa made his fortune in retail style, launching Japan’s largest on-line style mall, Zozotown. In 2019, he resigned as CEO of the e-commerce firm Zozo Inc. to dedicate his time to area journey. Forbes journal estimates his wealth at $1.9 billion.