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dearMoon/PA

Irish-born woman to join Japanese billionaire on first civilian flight to moon

Hackney-based Rhiannon Adam, who was born in Cork, is among eight crew picked by Yusaku Maezawa for the trip.

A LONDON PHOTOGRAPHER has beaten more than a million rivals to clinch a place on the first civilian trip to the moon.

Rhiannon Adam, 37, who was born in Cork and is based in Hackney, is among eight artists and creatives picked by Japanese billionaire entrepreneur and art collector Yusaku Maezawa to be part of the journey.

Adam described the trip, set to see a civilian crew orbit the moon for around seven days before returning to Earth, as “like an impossible dream coming true”.

Her crewmates will include Grammy award-nominated music producer Steve Aoki, South Korean rapper TOP, Indian TV actor Dev Joshi and US natural life documentary filmmaker Brendan Hall.

Czech choreographer, art director and performer Yemi AD, photographer Karim Iliya and US content creator Tim Dodd have also booked their places after passing selection, interviews and medical checks.

embedded7764012 dearMoon / PA dearMoon / PA / PA

Mission chiefs said Adam will be the first openly queer woman to go to space.

The trip, called dearMoon, is expected to take place next year aboard Starship, a rocket being developed by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

It comes after Maezawa, who wanted to “open up the opportunity of going to space to more and more diverse talents”, put out a call for crew members on dearMoon’s website in March 2021.

The invite drew more than one million applications from 249 countries and regions.
Adam said:

Every day I pinch myself. It seems like an impossible dream coming true. I aim to create work that does justice to this transformative experience.
In the middle of the pandemic, we were, of course, all grounded, which was incredibly frustrating for me as I felt that I’d lost my purpose.
But then, while idly scrolling Twitter, I came across dearMoon and it seemed like the most epic and life-changing adventure.
When I discovered that I was selected, I cried, and I’m not usually much of a crier.
I think it was overwhelming and had seemed just so impossible, and even then it didn’t seem real. It did make me think that perhaps I should have played the lottery more.

The chance to try to become part of the crew came “in the middle of the pandemic and I was craving an adventure. This seemed like the perfect opportunity”, Adam said.

She added: “I spend a lot of my life working with a lot of remote communities and it felt like a natural thing to do, to apply to go to space and explore the most remote community ever, which would be us in space.”

Maezawa, also known as MZ, said: “I had deep conversations with each candidate, asking them about their childhood, why they are dreaming about going to space, what kind of challenges they would like to undertake.

“They are all fantastic people. There isn’t a set task for each of them but I hope each and everyone will recognise the responsibility that comes with leaving the Earth, travelling to the moon and back in seven days.

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

Kaitlyn Farrington, who won the snowboard halfpipe at the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games for the US, and Japanese dancer and choreographer Miyu are back-up crew.

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    Mute Pauline Gallagher
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    Dec 9th 2022, 1:35 PM

    i think having more money than sense is an extremely dangerous thing. They arent just going into earth orbit, they are going into LUNAR orbit?? even the most qualified, trained astronauts knew they were taking a mortal risk doing this. They ALL need to know what to do in the event of a catastrophic system failure (em hello, Apollo 13??) but no, lets indulge unqualified nobody’s to do something that they have not even remotely earned the right to do.

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    Mute Sequoia
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    Dec 9th 2022, 2:31 PM

    @Pauline Gallagher:

    They’re passengers. They’re not actually crewing the flight. This is the space equivalent of a Mediterranean cruise.

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    Mute Pauline Gallagher
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    Dec 9th 2022, 2:50 PM

    @Sequoia: doesnt matter. Like i said, in the event of a catastrophe, they all need to know how to stay alive. Its friggin space, so NOT like a cruise on planet earth, where we know how things work

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    Mute Alan Wright
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    Dec 9th 2022, 4:02 PM

    @Pauline Gallagher: How many cruise ships crash with tragic consequences? Should we stop cruise holidays based on your reasoning.

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    Mute Stephen Campbell
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    Dec 9th 2022, 4:19 PM

    @Pauline Gallagher: Do you bring your bag of spanners with you on a cruise, incase the captain needs your help to fix the engines??

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    Mute Pauline Gallagher
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    Dec 9th 2022, 4:22 PM

    @Alan Wright: so you think a cruise is just as risky as a 500,000 mile round trip to the moon in an untested spacecraft, a trip that has only been successfully manned 9 times, (with one near death experience) strapped into a rocket command module, shot off into atmosphere, escape earths gravitational influence, enter lunar orbital influence, go around the dark side where transmissions cut, then re-entry where you plummet into the pacific. ok lol

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    Mute Pauline Gallagher
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    Dec 9th 2022, 4:26 PM

    @Stephen Campbell: your logic is astoundingly ignorant. Elderly people and families take cruises, thats how dangerous they are. When Apollo 8 launched, Jim Lovell said afterwards that he reasoned there was a 50/50 chance they would make it back. There have only been 9 manned missions to the moon in 53 years, hardly routine is it? you think civilians should take those odds just to be special? And of COURSE the spacecraft is crewed with professionals, that doesnt mean they should be babysitting clueless civilians

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    Mute Chris Linehan
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    Dec 9th 2022, 4:42 PM

    @Pauline Gallagher: The point about the cruise ship is when it starts sinking, you’re not deputised in to help save the passengers. You do as you’re told and follow the instructions hanging in your cabin, which likely no one reads. These folks aren’t just going to jolly up to the rocket and check in their bags. They’ll likely have intense training for weeks/months beforehand and may be even given specific jobs to do in an emergency, or else as expected just stay out of the way and let the crew do what they’ve been trained for.

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    Mute Maria Jean Clooney
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    Dec 9th 2022, 5:33 PM

    @Pauline Gallagher: pipe down Pauline and have a cup of tea for yourself.
    It’s a nice idea, if people want to risk their lives to fullfill their long life dreams then so be it. They were the chosen ones don’t be jelly :)

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    Mute Stephen Deegan
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    Dec 9th 2022, 6:08 PM

    @Pauline Gallagher: I’m sure they’re all well acquainted with the risks. I’m also sure that the crew that will be piloting the spacecraft will be well qualified and capable of bringing passengers to orbit the moon. The last manned mission to the moon was Apollo 17 back in 1972, I’m sure technology has improved since then, so the risks will hopefully be lessened. It’s very nice of you to be so concerned about their safety though.

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    Mute Steve O'Hara-Smith
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    Dec 10th 2022, 9:32 AM

    @Pauline Gallagher: They’re not going in an Apollo style tin can. They’re going in a Spacex Starship – a vehicle with a 100 tonne capacity designed to ferry colonists to Mars and be reused like an aeroplane. If it’s anywhere remotely near its design capabilities this trip is a walk in the park. If not they will probably all die.
    Oh and it does not splash down in the Atlantic it soft lands on its tail under automatic control, something that Spacex are very good at doing.
    Sure it is untested, so was the Titanic. What could go wrong?

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    Mute Pauline Gallagher
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    Dec 10th 2022, 8:08 PM

    @Maria Jean Clooney: Its a terrible idea. And dont patronize me, and stop using infantile language. God youre annoying

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    Mute Pauline Gallagher
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    Dec 10th 2022, 8:11 PM

    @Stephen Deegan: Couldnt care less about their safety. Technology HASNT improved since then, challenger, Colombia and half a dozen failed launches Artemis have proven that.

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    Mute Madison Underwood
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    Dec 9th 2022, 1:26 PM

    What does “queer” mean?

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    Mute Pauline Gallagher
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    Dec 9th 2022, 1:30 PM

    @Madison Underwood: they have taken ownership of a word that was previously used to taunt them in the 80s and 90s. Not all gay people are happy about that, and i dont blame them. I also think its outrageous that civilians get to do what actual astronauts and space engineers would give their right arm for, you know, people who have actually earned their place

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    Mute Ciarán O' Donoghue
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    Dec 9th 2022, 3:18 PM

    @Madison Underwood: I also didn’t know, so I googled it! Along with “content creator”.

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    Mute Bri Lyons
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    Dec 9th 2022, 3:55 PM

    Will this be a carbon neutral trip ?

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    Mute Sandra Molloy
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    Dec 9th 2022, 4:58 PM

    There’s a pile of cash wasted that could solve a lot of problems on this planet.

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    Mute Dave Harris
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    Dec 10th 2022, 1:38 AM

    @Sandra Molloy: there’s always one……

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    Mute Will Roche
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    Dec 9th 2022, 1:22 PM

    Everyday Astronaut going too.

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    Mute Watchful Axe
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    Dec 9th 2022, 1:50 PM

    Great news for her and Tim, 2023 seems a bit optimistic though. They’d have to rehearse the trip with no crew first, perfect the orbital refueling and probable dock with a falcon 2 launched dragon capsule. It’ll take years to crew rate the starship itself.

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    Mute Aonghus OReilly
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    Dec 9th 2022, 2:05 PM

    @Watchful Axe: I was thinking the exact same thing myself. That and I wonder would rte player work so I could watch The Sunday Game.

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    Mute Watchful Axe
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    Dec 9th 2022, 6:24 PM

    @Aonghus OReilly: You’ll be able to book a holiday to the moon before the player is a hundred percent.

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    Mute Steve O'Hara-Smith
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    Dec 10th 2022, 9:22 AM

    @Watchful Axe: Don’t forget he wants to have two Starships on their way to Mars in 2024 and four more following with two of them carrying colonists in 2026.
    Yeah his schedules are a tad on the optimistic side.

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    Mute Ann Nugent
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    Dec 9th 2022, 4:12 PM

    Fair play to her.

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    Mute Gerald OBrien
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    Dec 10th 2022, 8:28 AM

    (Muffled voice on the moon) One… small… step… for… cork

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    Mute OConnelj
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    Dec 10th 2022, 2:57 PM

    @Gerald OBrien: “Houston, tis definitely not Cark”

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    Mute Daftbit Jelly
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    Dec 10th 2022, 11:51 AM

    One of the most formative experiences of my life was the first lunar landing. The wonder of it all. That it has come to this I find deeply depressing.

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