The Japanese Billionaire Yusaku maezawa flew this Wednesday at International Space Station (EEI), with which the spacial tourism to the orbital platform after a hiatus of more than ten years.
“I believe that in a few years (space flight) will be more accessible, and our task now is to show that all obstacles can be overcome,” Maezawa told a pre-flight press conference.
(You may be interested: Russia returns to the space tourism race with a Japanese millionaire)
The Japanese businessman, also known as “MZ” and who is the thirtieth richest man in his country, according to the Forbes list, will remain on the international orbital platform for twelve days, so that he will return to Earth on the 19th. During the odyssey space, the space tourist will be accompanied by his assistant Yozo Hirano and cosmonaut Aleksandr Misurkin, the flight commander.
On board a Soyuz
The Japanese space tourist flew to the Space Station aboard a Soyuz MS-20 spacecraft.
“We are going to fly in a Soyuz, and that fills me with pride, considering the great history of that ship,” said the Japanese before the launch. The safety of the Soyuz flight will be ensured by about 150 Russian military specialists, according to a statement from the Central Military District of Russia.
(Also: Chinese vehicle will explore a ‘mysterious’ square object on the Moon)
Preparations for the flight
The last space tourist to step on the ISS was Canadian Guy Laliberté, founder of the Circo de Sol, who traveled to the orbital platform in 2009, where he stayed for 11 days.
The Japanese businessman and his assistant began training for flight in the summer. “We were training for 100 days,” the space tourist acknowledged on Tuesday, adding that he will have “a hundred tasks” once on the orbital platform, the fulfillment of which he will inform the public on his YouTube channel.
Maezawa took the opportunity to thank the Russian instructors for the training program, which he described as very “complete”. As for the first thing he will do aboard the ISS, the Japanese joked: “Go to the bathroom.” “The flight will be very long and it is surely the first thing we want to do,” he explained.
Maezawa, 46, also revealed that he has started to learn Russian. Meanwhile, the flight commander Misurkin acknowledged that he already knows a few words in Japanese.
(Also: Do you dream of working at NASA? Test how much you know about Mars)
The last space tourist to step on the ISS was Canadian Guy Laliberté, founder of the Circo de Sol, who traveled to the orbital platform in 2009, where he stayed for 11 days.
EFE
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