Yusaku Maezawa docked at the International Space Station last Wednesday December 8th, making him the first self-funded tourist to visit the ISS in over a decade! From the looks of it, Billionaire's are in a sirius phase of all wanting to blasting off into space.
Who is Yusaku Maezawa?
Maezawa became a billionaire after founding the e-commerce sites Start Today and Zozo. Fascinatingly enough, he also used to drum in the punk rock band Switch Style, and even launched a show last year in search of a new girlfriend to join him in space, but later cancelled it. (It's a shame that it didn't take off!).
The Mission
The Billionaire plans to spend 12 whole days aboard the space station with Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin & Yozo Hirano, a video producer who's documenting his trip. For comparison, Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson were each in space for less than 15 minutes. Not to mention that Bezos only went above the Karman line, which many consider to be the space-Earth boundary.
On his space mission, Maezawa plans to do some pretty out-of-this-world stuff. 100 different tasks to be exact, including activities like playing golf and badminton.
In fact, he just recently became the first person to have Uber Eats delivered to him in space! Yep, Uber Eats sent food up to the ISS. Talk about outrageous.
So, what's the cost for this space trip? Just $88 Million . . . Whew!
The Training
While it seems that Maezawa merely decided to blast off in a rocket ship, he actually had to undergo an extensive training program prior to the launch. This included sleeping on an inclined bed, being spun around in a chair and playing long periods of badminton - all of which he has documented on social media, or course.
What's Next?
More space time is in his future. Maezawa made international news in 2019 when he was revealed to be the first private passenger slated to be flown around the Moon by SpaceX. That flight is named dearMoon, which is scheduled for sometime in 2023. And he's not going solo. Maezawa has promised to bring 8 members of the public along for the ride.
Final Thoughts
The sky is surely not the limit for Yusaku and he hope to inspire others to have a similar outlook.
"People can have hopes and dreams (by seeing that) a regular person like me can go into such an unknown world" ~ Yusaku Maezawa.
