Japanese fashion billionaire Yusaku Maezawa earned the right to be SpaceX’s first lunar tourist on a mission slated for 2023, but he won’t go alone. Maezawa bought all of the seats on the flight and announced plans to choose eight people for the week-long trip to orbit the moon with him (and two or three others). You have until March 14th to pre-register on the DearMoon website before going through the “first screening” by March 21st.
Unsurprisingly, potential candidates still have a few more steps to take after this, but given that they may be visiting the moon in a few years’ time, we expect there will be many applicants. Maezawa initially wanted to bring artists, but now says there are two criteria for potential tripmates. First, that they can do everything they can to help people and society on this trip, and that they are willing and able to support other crew members in their ambitions.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk also appeared in the video and said the potential for safe transportation by 2023 looks “promising”. However, given its relationship with deadlines, consider a flexible schedule as a third criterion for participation.