Earlier this week, Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa announced details on how you could get a free trip around the Moon. Yes, an actual free trip to the Moon.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In a project called dearMoon, he is looking for eight people to join him in 2023. Specifically, he wants artists to be inspired by the trip, and then to carry that inspiration into new work.
He wants people from all across the world, which means there is a chance one of the passengers could be someone from Australia or New Zealand!
Maezawa is financing the mission, which will be able to take anywhere between 10 and 12 people for a week-long trip around the Moon. It will not land on the surface, but it will be aboard SpaceX's Starship. Yes, the same Starship currently being designed in the US and the space vehicle Elon Musk wants to use to take people to Mars.
Last year, Maezawa started a search for a lifelong partner to also join him on the trip, but cancelled it. He also offered a seat to film director Damien Chazelle, who recently directed First Man, the biopic about Neil Armstrong, asking him to be the first film director to go to the Moon.
This isn't the only recent announcement about private space travel, especially in a very unique mission.
Last month, Elon Musk and SpaceX teamed up with another tech billionaire, Jared Isaacman, to announce Inspiration 4. Looking at a launch towards the end of this year, it would take four private people aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon to become the first all-private trip into space. Isaacman,who is a trained pilot with experience in multiple military jets, will command the capsule. With him, he will take three others under the pillars of Generosity, Prosperity, and Hope.
Hayley Arceneaux will take the Hope seat. She works at the St Jude Children's Research Hospital, and at the age of 29, might be the youngest American in space. So far, Gherman Titov, at the age of 26, is the youngest person in space. Arceneaux at the age of 10 battled bone cancer and is a cancer survivor.
These two missions highlight a unique feature of the new space race. Companies, investors, and others can choose to do unique things, outside of the normal scope of sending people into space.
As part of Generosity, a charity drive was held, aiming to raise $200 million US for the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. One of the donors in this drive will be chosen to have a seat.
For Prosperity, an inspirational entrepreneur who uses Shift4Shop to start their business will be selected.
These two missions highlight a unique feature of the new space race. While we hear of the costs involved for private space travel, like the $250,000 price tag for a seat on Virgin Galactic, it also allows more options.
Companies, investors, and others can choose to do unique things, outside of the normal scope of sending people into space. It will be quite a while before the average person can just go online and buy a trip into space like we do for a holiday.
However, as more and more companies send more and more people into space, we'll see increased options for a range of people embarking on the big trip.
- Brad Tucker is an astrophysicist and cosmologist at Mount Stromlo Observatory, and the National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science at ANU.