The ISS has welcomed a “tourist” in Roscomos’ own words. After twelve days in space, Maezawa has just returned to Earth, but for how long?
It had taken off from Baikonur less than two weeks ago. After twelve days in space, the Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa has returned to our good old Earth, with the firm intention of leaving it again.
He who landed this morning around 4 am French time in the steppes of Kazakhstan already thinks only of leaving. It must be said that this mission in the ISS, if it has been described as touristy by many, Maezawa sees it as training. Indeed, the latter plans to take place in a SpaceX rocket before making the big jump.
Next objective: the Moon
A mission which has only been carried out a few times in the history of space, and which has never been completed since the 1970s. This mission, called Dear Moon, plans to go around the Moon before returning to Earth. Maezawa has been planning this colossal mission for years. These 12 days aboard the ISS should therefore be used to train him to navigate in the vacuum of space.
He who will have to keep his control a whole bunch of artists during his trip to the Moon. Maezawa, a great art lover, intends to offer this little space road trip to artists from all fields, so that a passage closer to the Moon can brighten their artistic creativity.
A real Youtuber from space
But before aiming for the moon, which does not scare him, we had to prepare in the ISS. So Maezawa, as a good communicator, decided to share his stay aboard the ISS with his million subscribers on YouTube. Every day he offered a little video on a moment of life in the ISS. It was an opportunity for him to bridge the gap between what is happening in the space station and on Earth.
While Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson have waged a ranged war to get to space with their own rocket, Maezawa seems far removed from all of this debate. He does not own any company in the space sector, he who built his fortune on online fashion, of which he is still a real heavyweight today.
As a simple passenger, he will therefore have benefited from a flight aboard one of the safest rockets in history, the Soyuz. Traveling on behalf of Russia, which had already sent a director and an actress into space a few weeks ago, Maezawa is therefore extending the list of tourists to the ISS.
