Astronomy:DearMoon project
Artistic rendition of the Starship firing its engines during its lunar flyby | |
Mission type | Crewed lunar flyby |
---|---|
Operator | SpaceX |
Website | dearmoon |
Mission duration | 6 days (planned) |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft type | Starship[1][2] |
Manufacturer | SpaceX |
Crew | |
Crew size | 9 |
Members | Yusaku Maezawa Steve Aoki Choi Seung Hyun Yemi A.D. Rhiannon Adam Tim Dodd Karim Iliya Brendan Hall Dev Joshi |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | TBD |
Rocket | SpaceX Starship[3] |
Launch site | SpaceX Starbase, Texas |
End of mission | |
Landing date | TBD |
Landing site | SpaceX Starbase, Texas |
dearMoon project insignia |
The dearMoon project is a lunar tourism mission and art project conceived and financed by Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa. It will make use of a SpaceX Starship spacecraft on a private spaceflight flying a single circumlunar trajectory around the Moon. The passengers will be Maezawa and eight other civilians, and there may be one or two crew members. The project was unveiled in September 2018 and was scheduled to launch in 2023.[4] It has since been indefinitely delayed until Starship completes development. The project objective is to have eight passengers travel with Maezawa for free around the Moon on a six-day tour. Maezawa said that they expect the experience of space tourism to inspire the accompanying passengers in the creation of something new. If successful, the art would be exhibited some time after returning to Earth with the goal of promoting peace around the world.
Maezawa had previously contracted in 2017 with SpaceX for a lunar flyby in a much smaller Dragon 2 spacecraft launched by a Falcon Heavy launch vehicle, which would have carried only two passengers. According to a SpaceX announcement in early 2018, the Falcon Heavy plan was shelved in light of the development of Starship.[3]
History
On February 27, 2017, SpaceX announced that they were planning to fly two space tourists on a free-return trajectory around the Moon, now known to be billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, and one friend.[5] This mission, which would have launched in late 2018, was planned to use the Crew Dragon 2 capsule already developed under contract for NASA's Commercial Crew Program and launched via a Falcon Heavy rocket.[6] As well as being a source of income for the company, any mission would serve as technology development for SpaceX's further plans to colonize Mars.[7]
At the time of the 2017 announcement, the Crew Dragon 2 capsule was still under development and the Falcon Heavy had yet to fly. Industry analysts noted that the schedule proposed by SpaceX might be too ambitious, as the capsule was expected to need modifications to handle differences in flight profile between the proposed lunar flight and its main use for crew transfer to space stations orbiting Earth.[8]
In February 2018, SpaceX announced it no longer had plans to certify the Falcon Heavy for human spaceflight and that lunar missions would be flown on Starship (then called BFR).[3][9] Then, on September 14, 2018, SpaceX announced that the previously contracted passenger would be launched aboard Starship to flyby the Moon in 2023.[10][11] Starship will have a pressurized volume of 1,000 m3 (35,000 cu ft), large common areas, central storage, a galley, and a solar storm shelter.[12]
Crew
The project was announced in 2018 with the original intent to bring a crew of artists to the Moon. In this latest release, Maezawa calls for applicants to make up a crew of eight individuals from around the world for the week-long lunar trip.
On February 7, 2019, the dearMoon YouTube channel posted a video in which Maezawa discusses the movie First Man with director Damien Chazelle and lead actor Ryan Gosling. In the video, Maezawa officially invites Chazelle to come with him on his dearMoon project, making Chazelle the first person to be publicly invited to go. However, Chazelle answered that he had to think about it and discuss it with his wife.[13] On March 3, 2021, Yusaku Maezawa announced that eight members of the public will be selected to fly on dearMoon.[14][15] On July 16, 2021, Yuzaku Maezawa uploaded a video that reveals 1 million people have joined, but there was still no information on who won the 8 seats.[16]
On December 8, 2022, the crew of the mission was announced, along with two backup crew members.[17][18]
- Primary crew
Position | Astronaut | |
---|---|---|
Spacecraft commander | Yusaku Maezawa Second spaceflight | |
Pilot | Steve Aoki First spaceflight | |
Youtuber | Tim Dodd First spaceflight | |
Multidisciplinary Creative | Yemi A.D. First spaceflight | |
Photographic Artist | Rhiannon Adam First spaceflight | |
Photographer | Karim Iliya First spaceflight | |
Filmmaker | Brendan Hall First spaceflight | |
Actor | Dev Joshi First spaceflight | |
Singer | Choi Seung-hyun First spaceflight |
- Backup crew
Position | Astronaut | |
---|---|---|
Mission Specialist | Kaitlyn Farrington First spaceflight | |
Mission Specialist | Miyu First spaceflight |
Objective
The dearMoon project passengers will be Yusaku Maezawa and eight accomplished artists that Maezawa has invited to travel with him for free.[19][5] Maezawa expects this flight to inspire the artists in their creation of new art, which will be presented some time after their return to Earth. He hopes this project will help promote peace around the world.[1][20][5]
Mission profile
Initially proposed to launch in 2023, the circumlunar mission is expected to take 6 days to complete.[1] In 1970, Apollo 13 followed a similar trajectory around the Moon. During the 2020s NASA's Artemis 2 is expected to launch on similar trajectories, while Artemis 1 entered a distant retrograde orbit around the Moon for 6 days.[21] The circumlunar Artemis 2 mission is planned to be crewed and to be launched in September 2025.[22]
See also
- Artemis 2
- Exploration of the Moon
- List of missions to the Moon
- Polaris program
- Timeline of private spaceflight
- Tourism on the Moon
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 First Private Passenger on Lunar Starship Mission. SpaceX. 18 September 2018. Retrieved 13 December 2022 – via YouTube.
- ↑ SpaceX signs its first passenger to fly aboard the Big Falcon Rocket Moon mission . CatchNews. 14 September 2018.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Foust, Jeff (6 February 2018). "SpaceX no longer planning crewed missions on Falcon Heavy". Spacenews. http://spacenews.com/spacex-no-longer-planning-crewed-missions-on-falcon-heavy/.
- ↑ "Meet the dearMoon Crew!" (in en). https://dearmoon.earth/.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 How SpaceX's 1st Passenger Flight Around the Moon with Yusaku Maezawa Will Work . Tariq Malik, Space.com. 18 September 2018.
- ↑ SpaceX (27 February 2017). "SpaceX to Send Privately Crewed Dragon Spacecraft Beyond the Moon Next Year". SpaceX. http://www.spacex.com/news/2017/02/27/spacex-send-privately-crewed-dragon-spacecraft-beyond-moon-next-year.
- ↑ David Dickinson (1 March 2017). "SpaceX Announces 2018 Moonshot Mission". Sky and Telescope. http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/spacex-announces-moonshot-mission-2018/.
- ↑ Mike Wall (4 March 2017). "Could SpaceX Get People to the Moon in 2018?". Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/could-spacex-get-people-to-the-moon-in-2018/.
- ↑ Pasztor, Andy. "Elon Musk Says SpaceX's New Falcon Heavy Rocket Unlikely to Carry Astronauts". Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musk-says-spacexs-new-falcon-heavy-rocket-unlikely-to-carry-astronauts-1517876582?mod=rss_Technology.
- ↑ Eric Ralph (14 September 2018). "SpaceX has signed a private passenger for the first BFR launch around the Moon". https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-private-passenger-bfr-moon-mission/.
- ↑ Grush, Loren (14 September 2018). "SpaceX says it will send someone around the Moon on its future monster rocket". The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/13/17857872/spacex-moon-trip-passenger-announcement-bfr.
- ↑ "Making Life Multiplanetary: Abridged transcript of Elon Musk's presentation to the 68th International Astronautical Congress in Adelaide, Australia". SpaceX. September 2017. http://www.spacex.com/sites/spacex/files/making_life_multiplanetary_transcript_2017.pdf.
- ↑ Movie "FIRST MAN" Special talk -Yusaku Maezawa × Damien Chazelle × Ryan Gosling-. dearMoon. 7 February 2019. Archived from the original on 8 December 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022 – via YouTube.
- ↑ Sheetz, Michael (2 March 2021). "Japanese billionaire to fly eight members of the public on SpaceX moon flight" (in en). https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/02/yusaku-maezawa-opens-up-public-seats-on-spacex-starship-moon-flight.html.
- ↑ Maezawa, Yusaku [@yousuckMZ] (3 March 2021). "Get your FREE TICKET to the MOON!!". https://twitter.com/yousuckMZ/status/1366872714628132864.
- ↑ 【全世界から100万人が応募】dearMoon 最終選考間近、エントリー映像公開!【1M ENTRIES WORLDWIDE】dearMoon Applicants Sneak Peek!. Yusaku Maezawa【MZ】. 16 July 2021. Archived from the original on 7 November 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022 – via YouTube.
- ↑ Sheetz, Michael [@thesheetztweetz] (8 December 2022). "Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa announced the dearMoon crew: DJ & producer Steve Aoki Youtube creator Tim Dodd Artist Yemi A.D. Photographer Karim Iliya Photographer Rhiannon Adam Filmmaker Brendan Hall Actor Dev Joshi Musician T.O.P. t.co/8QRphzGKef" (in en). https://twitter.com/thesheetztweetz/status/1600954401602125824.
- ↑ dearMoon Crew Announcement! | 月周回プロジェクトdearMoon クルー発表. Yusaku Maezawa【MZ】. 8 December 2022. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022 – via YouTube.
- ↑ 前澤友作@MZDAO [@yousuck2020] (19 September 2018). "After a press conference, we talked a lot at Elon's home. He said that it would be reliable if 1-2 astronauts will be on board. #dearMoon @elonmusk" (in en). https://twitter.com/yousuck2020/status/1042331987841703936.
- ↑ Dear Moon . Accessed: 17 September 2018.
- ↑ "The Ins and Outs of NASA's First Launch of SLS and Orion". NASA. November 27, 2015. Archived from the original on February 22, 2020. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
- ↑ Foust, Jeff (9 January 2024). "NASA delays Artemis 2 and 3 missions". SpaceNews. https://spacenews.com/nasa-delays-artemis-2-and-3-missions/.
External links
Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DearMoon project.
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