‘I’ll fly me to the moon, maybe’ says SpaceX founder Elon Musk

Elon Musk, CEO and founder of SpaceX, the aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company, has hinted he could blast off to the moon on the first manned flight of its new Big Falcon Rocket. On Monday night, inside SpaceX’s cavernous rocket factory in Los Angeles, Musk revealed that a Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa was funding a private mission around the moon for himself and up to eight artists. Now it seems there is an outside chance that Musk – also CEO of electric carmaker Tesla – will join Maezawa on his space voyage. After announcing Maezawa to reporters, Musk was asked whether the planned mission would inspire him to take part. “As far as me going? I’m not sure,” Musk said. View this post on Instagram SpaceX’s next generation vehicle—BFR—will be the most powerful rocket in history, capable of carrying humans to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. A post shared by SpaceX (@spacex) on Sep 17, 2018 at 6:34pm PDT “[Maezawa] did suggest that maybe I would join [him] on this trip ... I don’t know ...” Then Maezawa interrupted him to say: “Oh yeah, yeah – please, please ...” Musk replied: “All right. Maybe we’ll both be on it.” However, it was unclear if the entrepreneur was being serious. As far as me going? I'm not sure .. I did suggest [to Yusaku Maezawa] that maybe I would join [him] on this trip ... I don't know ... Maybe we’ll both be on it Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, talking about its moon mission set for 2023 SpaceX’s first moon mission is slated to launch aboard the 38-storey-high rocket in about 2023. Engineers are currently building a prototype. Meet the Japanese billionaire booked for the moon on SpaceX rocket View this post on Instagram SpaceX has completed over 60 launches to-date and has the world’s only reusable orbital class rockets and spacecraft—capable of launching to space, returning to Earth, and flying again. A post shared by SpaceX (@spacex) on Sep 17, 2018 at 6:30pm PDT Tentative plans show that the flight could last about six days and will see the huge rocket – which is being designed to eventually colonise Mars – travel to within about 30 miles (about 50km) of the lunar surface before returning to Earth. Maezawa, Japan’s 18th richest person, who is the founder and CEO of online fashion retailer Zozo, bought all of the seats for passengers on the spaceship for an unknown sum. He plans to invite a diverse group of artists to fly with him as part of a project he has dubbed #dearmoon, which will involve them creating work inspired by their lunar journey. Although it is unclear how much he paid to become the first space tourist to travel to the moon and back, Musk says Maezawa is “paying a lot of money that would help with the ship and its booster”. SpaceX had been in talks with the Japanese billionaire about the moon mission since at least 2017, although an earlier plan had involved the crew flying in a much smaller Crew Dragon capsule on top of another of the company’s rockets, the Falcon Heavy. However, the Big Falcon Rocket is much larger and more powerful, and – because of its ultimate aim, of travelling to Mars to colonise the planet that is just over half the size of the Earth – highly ambitious. Are Elon Musk and Grimes still a couple? View this post on Instagram Last man on the Moon...Apollo 17 Commander Gene Cernan, standing beside the Lunar Rover at the beginning of the final EVA. December, 1972. A post shared by Project Apollo Archive (@apolloarchive) on Sep 27, 2015 at 6:17am PDT If the #dearMoon mission is successful – something that Musk has described as “very dangerous” – Maezawa and his companions (possibly even Musk, himself) will become the first people to travel to the moon since Nasa’s Apollo 17 mission. The trio of US astronauts Gene Cernan, Ronald Evans and Harrison Schmitt returned from the last lunar landing in December 1972. Musk says that SpaceX still only has “some concepts” for how the interior design of the moon mission’s spaceship and crew quarters will look. However, he thinks the week-long lunar voyage – instead of a six-month journey to Mars – will leave plenty of time for some fun. Will Elon Musk’s ‘fun’ Tesla car video games drive us to distraction? View this post on Instagram Last night’s launch of Telstar 18 VANTAGE marked Falcon 9’s 60th successful mission. A post shared by SpaceX (@spacex) on Sep 10, 2018 at 11:34am PDT “What is the most fun you can have in zero G [gravity]?” Musk says of the spacecraft’s interior design plans. “We’ll do that.” Want more stories like this? Sign up here. Follow STYLE on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter This article originally appeared on Business Insider.

‘I’ll fly me to the moon, maybe’ says SpaceX founder Elon Musk

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}CEO of rocket company hints he may blast off with Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, who bought all the seats on its first manned mission in 2023

CEO of rocket company hints he may blast off with Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, who bought all the seats on its first manned mission in 2023