Yusaku Maezawa (CEO, Start Today, Inc.) announced that 8 crew members and 2 backup 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, Founder: Elon Musk, SpaceX, Inc.The eight crew members of the dearMoon mission are Indian actor Dev Joshi, American DJ and producer Steve Aoki, American YouTuber Tim Todd; Czech artist Yemi AD; Irish photographer Rhiannon Adam; British photographer Karim Iliyal; American filmmaker Brendan Hall; and South Korean K-pop artist TOP.
The profiles and interview videos of the 8 crew members and 2 backup crew members who passed the selection, interviews, and medical check have now been released. The 8 crew members from diverse backgrounds will fly around the Moon for approximately 7 days with Maezawa and return to Earth. 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. In this video, Maezawa explains why he chose these crew members and how the selection process was carried out.
Comments by Yusaku Maezawa (excerpts)
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.
SpaceX Official Quote
“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 & 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.”
Indian actor Dev Joshi has been selected as one of the crew member for SpaceX moon trip. Dev D. Joshi said, “Always Be positive and be passionate, because Miracles happen, and they happen anytime, which came in the form of dearMoon for me!” (https://dearmoon.earth/ ) Dev was born in India in 2000. Dev is a professional actor and social media influencer with an experience of more than 18 years in the field of Art & Entertainment. From the young age of 3, he has been part of several television series, regional cinema, music albums, stage shows and advertisements. Known for his portrayal of an Indian superhero, “Baalveer,” Dev has positively influenced the masses across the world through his character, spreading the message of truth and goodness in society. Dev was honored by the President of India with the “Bal Shakti Puraskar” (2019), the highest civilian honor in India under the age of 18.