Comments on: Billionaire Maezawa chooses his passengers for Starship lunar flight https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/billionaire-maezawa-chooses-his-passengers-for-starship-lunar-flight/ Sun, 11 Dec 2022 00:15:36 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 By: Edward https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/billionaire-maezawa-chooses-his-passengers-for-starship-lunar-flight/#comment-1377194 Sun, 11 Dec 2022 00:15:36 +0000 https://behindtheblack.com/?p=90844#comment-1377194 Since the government slow walked approvals so that SpaceX would not launch Starship 20 on Super Heavy 4 before SLS launched, we have to ponder whether Dear Moon will be allowed to fly before Artemis II. Isn’t it too bad that we have to wonder these things rather than think of it as a competition or a cooperation?

]]> By: Blair Ivey https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/billionaire-maezawa-chooses-his-passengers-for-starship-lunar-flight/#comment-1376912 Sat, 10 Dec 2022 08:15:59 +0000 https://behindtheblack.com/?p=90844#comment-1376912 Edward noted: “Truly, we civilians want to know what it is like for civilians to go to the Moon.”

I thought Heinlein had covered that. It would be interesting to compare the actual experience with the imagined one.

]]> By: Edward https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/billionaire-maezawa-chooses-his-passengers-for-starship-lunar-flight/#comment-1376796 Sat, 10 Dec 2022 03:32:48 +0000 https://behindtheblack.com/?p=90844#comment-1376796 Tim Dodd is an excellent choice. One of his strengths is that he is not an engineer, so when he explains something on his videos, he has researched it extremely thoroughly. That makes his willingness to do the research his strength in that area. Another of his strengths is his ability to explain things clearly. I expect him to produce many informative videos on the entire process and experience.

Two others are filmmakers and two more are actors, so I expect great things from them over their careers. The photographer had better document the heck out of the whole thing, including the training, otherwise I will be disappointed in her as a choice. The musician, dancers, and athlete, if they fly, should likewise get creative about how to express their experiences.

So far, the other civilian flights on Dragon have had technical goals. This one is strictly societal to the point of being touristy. I once worked in the same department as an astronaut (although not with him), and he said that after a flight all you have is your memories and photographs, so make many of both. It will be interesting to see how creative they are during the voyage.

All the choices are entertainers, mostly artists of one type or another. They tell stories for a living. Even though Tim has already started telling his stories, I cannot wait to hear, read, or watch the stories. Dear Moon has also started with the stories, as we can now meet these new astronauts:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11hVwdl2S68&list=UULFnvMg1mBgLa_N5G1_6gnbIw&index=1

https://www.youtube.com/@dearmoon2023

Truly, we civilians want to know what it is like for civilians to go to the Moon. We want to live the dream, even if it is only vicariously.

]]> By: Jerry Greenwood https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/billionaire-maezawa-chooses-his-passengers-for-starship-lunar-flight/#comment-1376626 Fri, 09 Dec 2022 18:46:31 +0000 https://behindtheblack.com/?p=90844#comment-1376626 Congrats to Tim. I’m sure he’s ‘over the moon’ right now.

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