At a cost of $80 million in 12 days, the Japanese billionaire who paid for space at his own expense returned to Earth

On December 20, NetEase Technology reported that according to foreign media reports, Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, his assistant Yozo Hirano and Russian astronaut Alexander Misurkin have left the International Space Station to complete a 12-day trip to the International Space Station and successfully returned to Earth.

Pictured: Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa (center), his assistant Yozo Hirano (left), and Russian astronaut Alexander Misulkin (right)

Their space trip marks Russia's return to the space tourism industry after 10 years of stagnation, despite increasing competition from the United States. The three spent 12 days on the International Space Station, where Maezawa and others recorded their daily lives in space and filmed videos of everyday space missions such as brushing their teeth and going to the toilet. In other videos, Maezawa also shows fans how to properly drink tea and sleep in weightlessness.

Maezawa Yusaku, 46, and his assistants were among the first visitors to visit the space station at their own expense since 2009. In an interview at the orbiting space station last week, Maezawa Yusaku said: "Once in space, you realize how rewarding it is to have this amazing experience. Asked about the fact that he paid more than $80 million for the 12-day mission, Maezawa said he could not disclose the contract amount but admitted he paid "quite a bit."

The Russian Space Agency, which plans to continue to develop its space tourism business, has allocated two Soyuz spacecraft for such trips. In October, Russia sent the first batch of untrained ordinary people into space, including a Russian actress and a director, where they shot scenes from the first on-orbit film.

After completing his trip to the International Space Station, Maezawa also plans to fly around the moon in 2023 aboard a spacecraft from Elon Musk's space company SpaceX, and eight lucky artists are expected to fly with him.