The dearMoon crew shared their disappointment on social media following the sudden cancellation of the mission.
Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa has canceled his planned flight around the moon on June 1 due to delays with SpaceX. A starship a mega-rocket that has not yet had a single manned test flight. Maezawa originally booked a private trip in 2018 and invited eight artists to join him with the expectation that the project, called dear Moonwill be launched by the end of 2023.
“I can’t plan my future in this situation, and I feel terrible for keeping the crew members waiting longer, so it’s a difficult decision to reverse at this time,” Maezawa said declaration on X (formerly Twitter). “I apologize to those who were excited to see this project happen.”
Related: A Japanese billionaire has canceled a private flight around the moon on a giant SpaceX ship
The dear moon crew consisted of eight creatives working in fields ranging from music to photography, film and YouTube. Although the crew was not expected to perform any scientific experiments or other responsibilities (beyond basic mission safety duties), we hoped that the artists create works inspired by the trip.
After Maezawa’s decision to abort the mission, some crew members expressed disappointment at losing their chance to fly in space.
“It is with regret that I have to share this unfortunate news,” said Yemi AD, one of the crew members of the precious moon and a multidisciplinary creator. statement about X. “While the #dearMoon mission is over, my commitment to space exploration projects and supporting young, underprivileged individuals to achieve their own images of the moon remains unwavering.”
It is with regret that I have to share this unfortunate news. While the #dearMoon mission has ended, my commitment to space exploration projects and supporting young, underprivileged individuals to achieve their own images of the moon remains unwavering. In addition to my work with the Moonshot platform… https://t.co/FCO6bvXsuT pic.twitter.com/NLfYa0kelsJune 4, 2024
Crew member and Everyday Astronaut founder Tim Dodd also shared feelings of disappointment at the lengthy response to the mission cancellation. “But the reality is that I’m going to have to allow myself to mourn this loss because it’s become a big part of my life, my dreams and my vision,” Dodd said his post on X.
It is with regret that I have to share this unfortunate news. While the #dearMoon mission has ended, my commitment to space exploration projects and supporting young, underprivileged individuals to achieve their own images of the moon remains unwavering. In addition to my work with the Moonshot platform… https://t.co/FCO6bvXsuT pic.twitter.com/NLfYa0kelsJune 4, 2024
Meanwhile, other crew members criticized Maezawa’s decision, suggesting it was made unilaterally and in haste.
“You didn’t ask us if we minded waiting or give us the option or discuss that you were thinking about canceling until you had made up your mind,” said Rhiannon Adam, a dear Moon crew member and photographer from Ireland. declaration on X. “I can only speak for myself, but I’d wait until it’s done.”
Sorry, but as a crew member this is not a wash. You didn’t ask us if we didn’t mind waiting or give us the option or discuss that you were considering canceling until you had already made up your mind. I can only speak for myself, but I would wait until it’s done.June 1, 2024
Filmmaker and crew member Brendan Hall shared similar sentiments in a public statement shared online, suggesting that the decision to cancel was made solely by Maezawa and that the crew would wait longer for the Starship to be ready.
“Our crew, from the many conversations we had with each other, were prepared to wait as long as it took for this flight to happen,” Hall he said in a statement. “As many of us know, the shifting of timelines is an inherent nature of spaceflight. Every day the space industry achieves a milestone that was once thought impossible. During these years, our crew has been well informed about starship development through publicly available information and discourse, and have been well aware that we will potentially invest many years in this mission, the cancellation of this mission was sudden, short and unexpected.”
SpaceXThe starship and its superheavy booster form the world’s tallest and most powerful rocket ever to fly. The first unmanned test flight launched in April 2023 but failed to reach space. Second test flight in November 2023 flew higher but also failed.
During the vehicle’s third flight test, on March 14 of this year, Starship reached orbital velocity, but neither the spacecraft nor the booster survived re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere. AND the fourth test flight of the starship launched on June 6, during which the vehicle successfully burned on landing before crashing into the Indian Ocean.
Despite the vehicle’s progress, Maezawa’s decision to cancel the flight ultimately came down to uncertainty about when the starship would be ready to fly the DearMoon mission.
“I understand the financial implications for the MOH that it was expensive. It was a generous dream. But the reality is that it was all,” Adam said in another post on X. “To take it away so casually and with such little care – it undermines the stated values of the mission we believed in.”
Dodd also commented on the project’s optimistic timeline and lack of transparency.
“One thing I’m having a hard time coming to terms with is the timeline. Had I known it could end within a year and a half of publication, I would never have gone along with it,” Dodd later commented in a post on X. “About this possibility we didn’t know in advance. I expressed my views, even before the announcement, that the expensive moon was unlikely to happen in the next few years.”
While Dodd noted that he was “extremely disappointed”, he also stated that he “made new friends, had new adventures and learned more about [himself]” over the expensive moon, despite the mission being cancelled.