Japan billionaire to be first Moon tourist

Elon Musk’s company SpaceX has named its first private passenger on a voyage around the Moon as Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa


BIG FALCON SPACESHIP (BFS): Fully reusable, two-stage vehicle – composed of most powerful rocket booster ever built and spaceship designed to carry up to 100 people

Seven Raptor engines

Forward payload section: 1,000 cubic metre pressurized volume
 
Two fins near nose

55m

Landing legs: Two of three legs double as actuated fins


MISSION: Lasting about a week, journey will come as close as 200km to Moon’s surface before returning to Earth

Launch / landing

Average distance from Earth to Moon: 384,400km

Booster separation

Yusaku Maezawa: 42-year-old art collector and entrepreneur says he would invite up to eight artists to join him in space

Planned for 2023, mission would be first lunar journey by humans since 1972

118m

Power: 31 Raptor engines

Eventually, BFR will be able to lift 150 tonnes into low-Earth orbit – more than Saturn V Moon rocket


Sources: SpaceX, NASA 
Picture: Associated Press      
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