SpaceX reveals identity of the world's first lunar space tourist

The last time that humanity set foot on the lunar surface, Richard Nixon was still president and Pink Floyd was still in the midst of recording their seminal album about its dark side. And while SpaceX's tourism plans don't involve actually setting down on our nearest celestial neighbor, the company does hope to put Yusaku Maezawa, the billionaire founder of Japanese fashion retailer, Zozotown, as close to it as any human has been in the past 46 years.

During a press event at its headquarters in Hawthorne California on Monday, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk revealed the identity of its first paying customer, Maezawa, and provided more details as to what actually will take place during his upcoming trip.

Musk also revealed additional details about the BFR spacecraft that Maezawa will be riding in. Originally, SpaceX had planned to utilize its Falcon Heavy rockets to blast an Dragon crew capsule to the the moon and back. However, the company has since opted to instead use its newly minted "Big Falcon Rocket" which, coincidentally, is currently under construction at the Port of Los Angeles. The BFR is capable of lifting 50 tons of crew and cargo, 20 tons more than the Falcon Heavy, and is expected to be ready for testing some point in 2019.

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