SpaceX moon flight to include DJ, YouTuber and K-pop rapper

[Joe 90]

IMAGE SOURCE,SPACEX
Image caption,A SpaceX picture of the Starship spacecraft that the artists would travel on

A commercial DJ, K-pop rapper, and a space YouTuber are to go on a trip around the Moon, after they were picked by a Japanese billionaire for a private SpaceX flight.


Businessman Yusaku Maezawa revealed his crew on Friday after a global search for creative individuals last year.


American DJ Steve Aoki and Korean star TOP are the most high-profile picks.


The flight, scheduled for next year, could be the first lunar journey by humans since 1972.


The proposed fly-by would see a spacecraft circle the moon, coming within 200km (124 miles) of the surface. The trip would take eight days from launch to return.


However, US regulators are yet to give permission for the Starship rocket from Elon Musk's SpaceX company that the crew is supposed to travel on.


The ship has not even been approved for an orbital journey around the Earth and has been grounded for the past 18 months in Texas, after it completed a test launch in May 2021.


But Mr Maezawa made no mention of this delay in his video announcing the crew for the mission he's dubbed dearMoon.




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The opening scene shows Mr Maezawa in a Japanese garden looking up at the moon. It then cuts to show the first crew member - DJ Aoki - at one of his shows.


"I can't miss this opportunity. My soul is begging for this," the Billboard-charting artist says in the video.


The next passenger revealed is Youtuber Tim Dodd - also known as the Everyday Astronaut- who has 1.4 million followers online for his educational videos on spaceflight and astrophysics.


In his own video released on Friday the vlogger said he couldn't believe he'd been selected. He added that SpaceX's announcement in 2017 that it would send a civilian to the moon was


The other announced dearMoon mission members are:

• TOP (Choi Seung hyun), a K-pop rapper and former lead of boyband Big Bang (South Korea)
• Dancer and choreographer Yemi A.D. (Czech Republic)
• Photographer Rhiannon Adam (Ireland)
• Wildlife photographer Karim Iliya (UK)
• Filmmaker Brendan Hall (US)
• Actor Dev Joshi (India)

US Olympic snowboarder Kaitlyn Farrington and Japanese dancer Miyu were named as back-ups.


"I hope each and every one will recognise the responsibility that comes with leaving the Earth, travelling to the moon and back," Mr Maezawa said.


"They will gain a lot from this experience and I hope they will use that to contribute to the planet, to humanity."





Mr Maezawa, who made his fortune in online fashion retailer Zozo, has become prominently involved in commercial space travel. Last year he went to the International Space Station on a Russian rocket for 12 days.

• Musk claims Starship rocket close to going orbital
• Elon Musk rejects claims that he is hogging space

In 2018, he was named as the first private passenger due to be flown around the moon by SpaceX and said he would sponsor the cost of eight other passengers on board.


The price Mr Maezawa agreed to pay for his ticket to space has not been disclosed, but according to Mr Musk it was "a lot of money".


In 2020, he also launched a documentary search for a new girlfriend to join him on his moon voyage, before cancelling due to "mixed feelings".


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-63912668

[Seekingasylum]

As a paean to all that is utterly vacuous in modern day society, this crew list alone is sufficient to make one retch. I do hope the vanity mission does take off and crashes on the dark side. Can you just imagine the sheer utter horror of having to listen to all those whoops and hollers exclaimed between ejaculations of “ wow, man, ossome” and “ super amazingly ossome, man!” amid high fives and guffawing as they gambol about within their craft on takeoff.

And then hearing nothing but silence.

[malmomike77]

US Olympic snowboarder Kaitlyn Farrington and Japanese dancer Miyu were named as back-ups.


"I hope each and every one will recognise the responsibility that comes with leaving the Earth, travelling to the moon and back," Mr Maezawa said.


"They will gain a lot from this experience and I hope they will use that to contribute to the planet, to humanity."

utter bollocks

[Buckaroo Banzai]

a K-pop rapper and former lead of boyband

I wonder if his radio handle would be "the Kraper"

[malmomike77]

I wonder if his radio handle would be "the Kraper"

really who gives a fuk, most of these "celebs" are little more than talking heads who only have an audience becoz Social Media and the vacuous idiots that listen in to them and influencers - the future does look bright. Then again perhaps that's the way to save the planet, devolve.

[Edmond]

• Photographer Rhiannon Adam (Ireland)

A Corkonian, no less.

If the mission goes ahead, Adam will become the first Irish woman to orbit the moon

Noooo.


Get a skiz of this reporter.

[YourDaddy]

I am all over the moon with this news

ZING

[Topper]

It's a big ship, so there'll be plenty of room for posing and posturing among the group to see exactly who is the coolest among them.

[Buckaroo Banzai]

really who gives a fuk, most of these "celebs" are little more than talking heads who only have an audience becoz Social Media and the vacuous idiots that listen in to them and influencers - the future does look bright. Then again perhaps that's the way to save the planet, devolve.

It was a joke MM , which perhaps does not translate well in MMis,
Crapper in USenish means a place where you take a dump i.e. toilet I know his name is Kraper , but to me it sounded like crapper.
I know , my jokes are so esoteric sometimes I don't even get them. But I laugh and laugh and laugh...

[DrWilly]

What a bunch of old men grumbling about something that does not affect them. So what if a few DJs and K-pop stars get a free trip around the moon. Good luck to them!

[pickel]

What a bunch of old men grumbling about something that does not affect them. So what if a few DJs and K-pop stars get a free trip around the moon. Good luck to them!

I think that due to the amount of money spent on space travel it should actually somehow benefit mankind scientifically, and not just give some likes to a pop stars Instagram.

[Edmond]

So what if a few DJs and K-pop stars get a free trip around the moon. Good luck to them!

[grumble] I'll be a grumbling old man and grumble that a year or so ago when he announced that he was buying all the seats and giving them to special people involved in the arts in order to inspire the future of mankind, that a K-Pop rapper and YouTuber weren't exactly what we were hoping for. [/grumble]

[DrWilly]

I think that due to the amount of money spent on space travel it should actually somehow benefit mankind scientifically, and not just give some likes to a pop stars Instagram.

Rich old man can spend his money however he wants.

[Edmond]

Rich old man

He's in his 40's.





Grumble.

[DrWilly]

As a I said. Rich old man.

[Edmond]

Rich

He's only worth 1.7 billion USD.

[DrWilly]

Middled aged, somewhat wealthy billionaire.

[Edmond]

With a poor taste in music.




#choose.me.katie.

[pickel]

Rich old man can spend his money however he wants.

And us lowly peasants can hope it takes a wrong turn somewhere and sends the instagramers where no man has gone before. That'll get some likes.

[DrWilly]

Uncalled for. Are you jealous?

[pickel]

Are you jealous?

Yes. I want to be a Korean pop star.

[PlanK]

Sending all the rappers and hype-headline toobers off the planet to maybe never return sounds like the best idea in a long time.

I wish them great success for the launch.

[Topper]

In the youtuber's defense, he's being vlogging space news for years. I'm rather excited for him.