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In 2018, Japanese billionaire businessman Yusaku Maezawa booked a ride on a SpaceX rocket scheduled to orbit the moon in 2023. He named his mission the dearMoon project. And after an 18-month global search for “creatives,” he has reportedly chosen his 8-person crew.

The price tag for Maezawa and his crew to be launched into space has not been disclosed by SpaceX CEO, Elon Musk. But Musk claims it was "a lot of money."

Maezawa, whose riches came from founding Japan's largest online fashion mall, Zozotown is thrilled with his new venture. He sold most of his interest in Zozo in 2019 for $2.3 billion. And parent company, Zozo, is still listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

He was so anxious to go space traveling that he booked a ticket on a Russian Soyuz rocket. And flew to the International Space Station for a 12-day round-trip adventure.

The planned history-making flight will be the first-time humans have returned to the moon since 1972.

High-profile creatives on dearMoon crew

The dearMoon project includes a team of people from many nations, from diverse backgrounds with differing creative skills. Included are a commercial DJ, a filmmaker, a K-pop rapper, and a space YouTuber. Maezawa plans on turning the private SpaceX flight into high art.

American DJ Steve Aoki and Korean star TOP are the most high-profile picks.

The plan is for the spacecraft to circle the moon in 8-days. And it will come within 200km (124 miles) of the lunar surface. 

Youtuber Tim Dodd, known as the Everyday Astronaut, has 1.4 million followers on his channel where he posts spaceflight and astrophysics videos. He claims that SpaceX's announcement in 2017 that it would send a civilian to the moon was "ironically, or poetically... actually what got me started making videos on YouTube."

The rest of the crew includes:

• Choi Seung hyun- K-pop rapper and former lead of boyband Big Bang (South Korea)
• Yemi A.D.-Dancer and choreographer (Czech Republic)
• Rhiannon Adam-Photographer (Ireland)
• Karim Iliya-Wildlife photographer (UK)
• Brendan Hall-Filmmaker (US)
• Dev Joshi-Actor (India)
• Kaitlyn Farrington Snowboarder (US)
• Miyu Dancer (Japan)

US Olympic snowboarder Kaitlyn Farrington and Japanese dancer Miyu were named as alternate or back-up crew.

"I hope each and every one will recognize the responsibility that comes with leaving the Earth, travelling to the moon and back," Maezawa said.

"They will gain a lot from this experience, and I hope they will use that to contribute to the planet, to humanity."