My application to join the first civilian mission to the moon

Calling all cosmic adventurers!  

Tomorrow is the closing date for pre-registration to join Japanese billionaire Yusaka Maezawa on the first ever civilian lunar return flight, scheduled for 2023.

Maezawaa has the foresight, a few years ago, to block book every seat on the inaugural moon-bound trip to be made by Elon Musk’s SpaceX ‘Starship’ spacecraft – described as the “most powerful launch vehicle ever developed”, with the ability to carry in excess of 100 metric tonnes on a fly-by of the moon.  

The journey is not for the faint hearted.  The entire expedition will last a full week, as the craft hurtles around a quarter of a million miles, before looping around the moon and heading back.  Apparently, its lunar orbit will take it, by an astronomical hairsbreadth, slightly further from the earth than any manned flight has previously reached, which will be a fun humblebrag for the eight lucky crew members who emerge successful at the end of the two-month selection exercise which Maezawa launched earlier this month. 

So, always looking for another offbeat experience to check off the bucket list, I couldn’t resist finding out more – and headed over to www.dearmoon.earth where further details are unveiled.  A joint video message from Elon Musk and Yusaka Maezawa, some intriguing pieces around spacesuits and reusable rocket technology, the 11 stage flight plan (launch, booster separation, park orbit insertion, trans lunar injection, perilune, Earth rise, lunar flyby, reverse thrusters, and landing) – and, most importantly for me, a bright yellow button labelled ‘Join the crew’.

Three minutes later, my application was lodged, and I settled back in anticipation of the next stages.  

I didn’t need to wait long; within moment, I received an email confirmation and a cool certificate with my headshot superimposed inside the helmet of a cool spacesuit (see image). I felt beads of sweat on the nape of my neck – now all that remains is to successfully navigate the initial screening (which will apparently take around a week), submit an as-yet unspecified assignment, participate in an online interview, and then a final interview in May.  

With the crew selected during June, there will then be an intense two year period of training and preparation prior to lift off.  No information at the moment on the odds facing applicants but one thing’s for sure: the fortunate eight who join Maezawa on his seven day adrenalin rush will never again be short of stories with which to enliven a dinner party.  Starting an anecdote with the words, “When I was gazing into the cosmos from the dark side of the moon…” will be devilishly hard for any other guest to trump. Apparently, Maezawa is particularly keen for “artists” to join him, so I’ll be up in the attic tomorrow ferreting out the Steranko-inspired album cover I painted for my A Level art assignment.

When I mentioned this to my family, they called me a lunar-tic. I reckon they’re just jealous in case they get eclipsed!