TITUSVILLE, Fla. — For the first time in almost 50 years, a human is scheduled to go to the moon.
- Yusaku Maezawa to fly around moon
- CEO Elon Musk tweeted announcement
SpaceX announced at a Monday night presser the first passenger who will fly around the moon aboard their new "BFR" rocket will be Japanese billionaire and entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa.
Maezawa founded Japanese clothing retailer site Zozotown in 2004, and he is also an art collector.
He launched #dearMoon following the SpaceX announcement, which will be his art project in connection to his travels to the moon.
CEO Elon Musk teased this announcement on his Twitter feed.
Early Monday, he tweeted out two images of the BFR spacecraft that will take the passenger into the moon's outer orbit.
The company announced it had signed their first paying passenger to ride the BFR into space.
The BFR, which some think stands for Big Falcon Rocket, can carry up to 100 people, according to Musk. He first announced the development of the BFR last year.
SpaceX says the BFR is part of their Mars colonization plan. He wants to create a civilization on Mars.