On December 8, local time, Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa will take the Russian "Soyuz MS-20" spacecraft to the International Space Station for a 12-day space tour. As Russia resumes space tourism, Maezawa Issaku is also the first space visitor in a decade to travel to the International Space Station at his own expense.
According to foreign media reports, the spacecraft is scheduled to be launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 15:38 Beijing time on the 8th, and is expected to dock with the International Space Station in 6 hours.
↑From right: Tomosaku Maezawa, Misulkin, Yozo Hirano
Also traveling into space with Maezawa Yusaku are Russian Space Agency astronaut Alexander Misurkin and Maezawa's assistant Yozo Hirano, who will use footage to document the fashion tycoon's journey to space.
The space trip is a prelude to the 2023 Circumlunar trip
On the eve of his flight to the International Space Station, Maezawa said he "felt like a schoolboy about to go on an outing," saying at a news conference that going into space was his childhood dream, "I didn't think I could go to space, I used to love the stars and celestial bodies." I feel very fortunate to have this opportunity to realize my dreams. ”
"I'm curious about what life looks like in space, so I plan to find the answers myself and share them with the world on my YouTube channel." Maezawa said in a recent statement. Maezawa will also reportedly be the first Japanese citizen to enter space since TV journalist Toyohiro Akiyama visited the Mir space station in 1990.
↑ Elon Musk let his wealthy client ride around his neck.
Back in 2018, Maezawa became Elon Musk's SpaceX spacex first private circumlunker travel client, planning to fly to the moon in 2023 with eight artists in SpaceX's starship. As a prelude to the circumlunar travel program called "dear Moon," the 46-year-old fashion mogul has been documenting preparations for the space trip on social media.
↑ Maezawa Yusaku shares his training on social platforms.
Since Maezawa and his assistants are both novices in space flight, they must undergo 100 days of training before boarding the spacecraft. During the training, Maezawa said that he "liked parabolic flights a lot", but the weightless training in the swivel chair was difficult. At the same time, in order to better communicate with the trainers, Maezawa said that he worked hard to learn Russian and looked forward to eating sushi as soon as possible when he returned to Earth.
Space travel is currently "market value" of about $50 or 60 million
Maezawa, Hirano and Missulkin will return from the International Space Station on Dec. 20. If all goes according to plan, they will land in a remote area of Kazakhstan in the same Soyuz capsule as the first leg of their journey.
The billionaire made his fortune through Japanese e-commerce site Zozotown and is now the eighth person in the world to travel to the International Space Station at his own expense. It was unclear how much Maezawa paid for the space tourism project, and Space Adventures, the U.S. company responsible for planning the trip, declined to give a specific figure. However, the company's president, Tom Shelley, said in an interview that previous space travel to the International Space Station cost $20 million to $40 million, and the current market price is between $50 million and $60 million.
Shelley also noted that after the company's long suspension of space tourism business, it has noticed a dramatic change in public perception of space travel. "When we did this 10 or 15 years ago, many people didn't know they could fly into space as ordinary citizens." "But now in 2021, awareness within the market (consumers) is really up, so the discussion about space travel is different," Shelley said. ”
↑ In recent years, spacecraft from commercial companies have become an additional means for astronauts to provide access to the space station. The picture shows the "Dragon" cargo spacecraft carried by the SpaceX "Falcon 9" rocket in August this year to deliver supplies to the International Space Station.
The space travel mission also reflects a dramatic shift in the global space industry over the past decade. Since 2000, Space Exploration has provided eight similar services, but such launches have been interrupted since NASA's space shuttle program was decommissioned in 2011. Only Russia's Soyuz spacecraft remained, and even became the only option for transporting professional astronauts to the International Space Station.
Now, with the addition of Musk's SpaceX company to provide astronauts with additional means of transportation to the space station while also making room for tourists, the wider space tourism industry is booming.
Recent private space adventures include former Amazon CEO Bezos in July aboard the New Shepard spacecraft developed by his Blue Origin company, and four visitors on a charity fundraising trip on a SpaceX manned dragon spacecraft in September. In addition, a Russian actress and director spent 12 days on the International Space Station in October, filming parts of a film on the station for the first time in history.
Red Star News reporter Fan Xu Intern reporter Hu Yiling
Edited by Zhang Xun
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