British photographer picked to be nation’s first Moon tourist is anti-fracker and fossil fuel critic who says rocket launch boosters that burn at 2million times the rate of an average family car can be justified by ‘visibility’ of mission

• Rhiannon Adam, 37, from Hackney, is an anti-fracker and a fossil fuel critic
• She previously criticised overreliance on fossil fuels and investment in fracking 
• Adam will be one of eight joining  billionaire Yusaku Maezawa on his space trip
• The photographer justified the trip claiming ‘positives outweigh the negatives’ 

A British photographer who is being flown to the Moon on a rocket launch booster that burns at two million times the rate of an average car, is an anti-fracker and fossil fuel critic.

Rhiannon Adam, 37, originally from Ireland and based in Hackney, was one of eight artists selected by Japanese billionaire Yasaku Maezawa to join an ambitious civilian flyby around the moon on a SpaceX Starship next year.

The photographer, who has fiercely criticised the overuse of fossil fuels in the past justified her trip to out of space claiming the ‘positives outweigh the negatives’.

In 2018, Adam fiercely told The British Journal of Photography that societies ‘should be moving away from a reliance on fossil fuels investing in (fracking) that will potentially cause more environmental damage’. 

Photographer Rhiannon Adam (pictured), 37, from Ireland and based in Hackney, is one of eight being flown around the moon by Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa. The photographer is an anti-fracker and previously criticised overreliance on fossil fuels 

She said: ‘Right now I am sitting in London during one of the hottest summers on record: if there has ever been a time when climate change seems more apparent, it is now.’ 

Adam will be the only woman in the team of eight artists travelling around the moon on SpaceX next year and will become the first female member of the LGBTQ community to go to space.

When questioned why she had chosen to go on the trip, particularly when it came to the impact on the environment, she said it would help her ‘reflect on some of these issues in a deeper way’.

The booster launching the rocket can burn fuel a rate two million time faster than the average family car.

She told The Telegraph: ‘Naturally, I’ve thought about these things, but I think we also have to remember that space has a long legacy of actually founding research with climate change.

Adam justified her trip to out of space claiming the ‘positives outweigh the negatives’, adding that the exhibition will create a ‘very powerful perspective’ 

‘It is this completely out-of-this-world experience, no pun intended, and actually being able to create work in space allows us to reflect on some of these issues in a deeper way, by being able to gaze back at the Earth and see it in its entirety.’

Adams went on to say the trip would help ‘amplify voices’ by creating a ‘a very powerful perspective’. 

She added: ‘So, of course, I’ve thought about it, but I actually think the positives outweigh the negatives on this.’

The civilian crew for the ‘dearMoon’ tourist flight is set to take off next year, where they will stay aboard  SpaceX for seven days, without landing, before returning to Earth.

Adam will be joined by South Korean K-Pop star T.O.P., US Grammy nominated music producer Steve Aoki and Indian TV actor Dev Joshi.

SpaceX is planning to carry humans using a two-stage spacecraft composed of Starship (the passenger-carrying section) and the Super Heavy rocket booster

In case any of the eight have to drop out, US Olympic snowboarder Kaitlyn Farrington and Japanese dancer Miyu have also been chosen as backups. 

Speaking following her selection this week, the photographer 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.

What is dearMoon? 

The dearMoon project is a lunar tourism mission conceived and financed by Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa. 

Aboard SpaceX’s Starship rocket, the civilian crew will orbit the moon for about seven days without landing on it before returning to Earth. 

The passengers will be Maezawa, eight other civilians who are all artists or creatives, and one or two crew members. 

The trip is expected to happen in 2023, although the exact schedule has not been disclosed. 

‘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.’

T.O.P., whose real name is Choi Seung-hyun, started out as an underground rapper before joining Big Bang, one of the world’s top boy bands, in 2006.

The 35-year-old said in a video released by the dearMoon website that he has always fantasized about space and the moon since he was a child, adding ‘I cannot wait’.

‘When I finally see the moon closer I look forward to my personal growth and returning to the earth as an artist with an inspiration,’ he said.

Maezawa first revealed his plan for his space voyage back in 2018 but applications did not open until March 2021.  He received a total of 1 million application for the dearMoon mission.

Those selected were chosen as a result of a ‘strict screening’ process. 

Speaking about the process he 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,’ he said.

Among the male-heavy crew for the ‘dearMoon’ tourist flight is South Korean K-Pop star TOP and Indian TV actor Dev Joshi 

‘There isn’t a set task for each of them, but I hope each and everyone will recognize the responsibility that comes with leaving the Earth, travelling to the moon and back in seven days. 

dearMoon: The final crew 

Rhiannon Adam – British/Irish photographic artist living and working between London and the US

Steve Aoki – Grammy nominated music producer, artist, fashion designer and entrepreneur, based in the US

TOP (Choi Seung Hyun) – South Korean rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, actor and avid art collector

Yemi AD – Choreographer and ‘social innovator’ from the Czech Republic

Tim Dodd – Content creator, photographer, videographer, and musician from the US. Host of YouTube channel ‘Everyday Astronaut’

Brendan Hall – Documentary filmmaker from the US 

Karim Iliya – Photographer and filmmaker, based between Iceland and Hawaii

Dev Dushyant Kumar Joshi – Indian TV actor and social media influencer

Back-up crew: 

Kaitlyn Farrington – US Olympic snowboarder who won the Gold Medal in the snowboard halfpipe at the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games

Miyu – Japanese dancer, choreographer and movement practitioner 

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

It will be Maezawa’s second space journey after he took a 12-day trip to the International Space Station on the Soyuz Russian spaceship last year. 

Maezawa, 47, and his producer Yozo Hirano became the first self-paying tourists to visit the space station since 2009. He has not disclosed the cost for that mission, though reports said he paid $80 million. 

The spaceship will not make a lunar landing but is expected to come within 120 miles (200 kilometers) of the moon’s surface while circling it for three days.

SpaceX is planning to carry humans using a two-stage spacecraft composed of Starship (the passenger-carrying section) and the Super Heavy rocket booster.

The firm still has work to do on construction of the $216 million Starship, previously known as ‘BFR’, although it has been testing out launching Starship prototypes into the air and landing them.

These launches have had various degrees of success, with some exploding in a chaotic ball of flames.

A full-scale orbital test flight of the rocket is still yet to take place, despite Musk saying a year ago that it would likely happen in 2022.

The dearMoon project has also revealed the specially-created spacesuits to be worn by the crew, designed in-house by SpaceX.

The dearMoon website says: ‘Each custom-tailored suit is meant to provide a pressurized environment for all crew members aboard Dragon in atypical situations such as cabin depressurization.

‘This suit also routes communications and cooling systems to the astronauts aboard during regular flight.’

Source: Read Full Article