NASA astronaut offers to ride along on SpaceX BFR moon mission
Retired astronaut Scott Kelly has cleared his schedule for 2023.
Scott Kelly knows a thing or two about space travel.
If Elon Musk and Yusaku Maezawa want a person with some space experience to go along on the planned SpaceX lunar mission, they've already got a volunteer. Retired NASA astronaut Scott Kelly has offered his services.
SpaceX and Elon Musk announced on Monday that Maezawa has purchased all of the available seats on the BFR (Big Falcon Rocket) spaceship for a flight around the moon planned for 2023.
Yusaku Maezawa (@yousuck2020), this will be a great adventure! Good luck on your trip and if you need someone with a little experience to go with you, my schedule is wide open in 2023. https://t.co/esOU51ojch
— Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) September 18, 2018
Kelly tweeted his good wishes to Maezawa on Tuesday, "Good luck on your trip and if you need someone with a little experience to go with you, my schedule is wide open in 2023."
The lunar mission could take four or five days, which would feel like a hot minute to Kelly, who has logged 520 days in space, including a yearlong mission on the International Space Station. Kelly retired from NASA in 2016.
Maezawa retweeted Kelly's message, but didn't actually chime in to say if he would consider the astronaut's offer.
The Japanese billionaire entrepreneur plans to take a group of artists with him on the moon trip as a part of a project called #dearMoon. Maezawa, an avid art collector, hopes the experience will inspire the artists to create new works based on their adventure.
