She will be the first Irish person in space.
Irish woman Rhiannon Adam has been selected to travel on the first civilian mission around the Moon.
Titled the DearMoon project, the flight is scheduled to take place next year on Starship, a rocket developed by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
In 2018, Japanese billionaire entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa purchased all the seats on board the rocket as part of an effort to “give as many talented individuals as possible the opportunity to go” on the journey.
Out of one million applications from people around the world, eight crew members have been selected, including Adam.
Born in Cork in 1985, she is a photographic artist and currently lives and works between London and the US.
Speaking about what made her apply for the space adventure, she said:
“I think it was just in the middle of the pandemic and I was craving adventure and this seemed like the perfect opportunity.
“And I spend a lot of my life working with very 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.
“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.”
Being chosen for the DearMoon project means that Adam will be the first Irish person in space.
Joining her as crewmates on the journey are American music producer Steve Aoki, South Korean rapper TOP, Indian TV actor Dev Joshi, documentary filmmaker Brendan Hall, Czech choreographer Yemi AD, photographer Karim Iliya and US content creator Tim Dodd.
“I’m very thrilled to have these amazing people join me on my journey to the moon and excited to see what inspiring creations they come up with in space,” Maezawa said in a statement.
As part of the flight, Starship will make a week-long journey in which it will orbit the Moon before returning to Earth.
You can watch an interview with Adam below about being selected.
Clip via DearMoon
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