*By Carlo Versano*
The first civilian to see the moon up close will be Yusaku Maezawa, a Japanese billionaire and art collector who will pay an untold fortune for a ride around the moon on SpaceX's BFR rocket. Elon Musk, founder and CEO of the private space company, announced Maezawa as the maiden passenger on a trip that is tentatively scheduled for 2023.
But the mission is not exactly green-lit, science writer Shannon Stirone said.
"They have to prove BFR can actually leave Earth in the first place," she said Tuesday in an interview on Cheddar.
Musk is known for his aggressive timelines ー at both SpaceX and Tesla ー and freely admitted during the livestreamed event Monday night that his process is fluid.
SpaceX, which Musk said put $2 billion to $10 billion into developing this project ー plans test flights around the moon for 2020. That is probably wishful thinking, Stirone said, though she thinks "eventually it will happen."
Stirone estimates the cost of the ticket for Maezawa's non-astronaut voyage (a major first in the field) would be "at least $80 million" and he likely put down "tens of millions" as a deposit. The company will pay the remaining balance.
For Maezawa, who founded the Japanese clothing company Zozo, it's like buying a plane ticket.
He is most famous for [unmasking](https://twitter.com/yousuck2020/status/920884081881001984) himself last year as the buyer of a 1982 Jean-Michel Basquiat painting, for which he paid $110 million.
Maezawa said that he hopes to bring artists along with him to describe the moon to those who don't have the means, or desire, to take the arduous five-day journey.
SpaceX's announcement arrives as Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin makes less splashy strides toward its goal of sub-orbital space tourism. The far less complicated trip with a relatively cheaper price of a couple hundred-grand would allow people to "skim the stratosphere" and feel weightless for a few minutes before coming home, Stirone said.
Musk's goal with the BFR is somewhat more tangled ー its ultimate function will be to ferry 100 passengers at a time to and from Mars.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/spacexs-first-tourist-twitters-new-old-timeline-kanyes-new-album-and-more).
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Spain's government has fined Airbnb 64 million euros or $75 million for advertising unlicensed tourist rentals. The consumer rights ministry announced the fine on Monday. The ministry stated that many listings lacked proper license numbers or included incorrect information. The move is part of Spain's ongoing efforts to regulate short-term rental companies amid a housing affordability crisis especially in popular urban areas. The ministry ordered Airbnb in May to remove around 65,000 listings for similar violations. The government's consumer rights minister emphasized the impact on families struggling with housing. Airbnb said it plans to challenge the fine in court.
Roomba maker iRobot has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, but says that it doesn’t expect any disruptions to devices as the more than 30-year-old company is taken private under a restructuring process. iRobot said that it is being acquired by Picea through a court-supervised process. Picea is the company's primary contract manufacturer. The Bedford, Massachusetts-based anticipates completing the prepackaged chapter 11 process by February.
Serbia’s prosecutor for organized crime has charged a government minister and three others with abuse of position and falsifying of documents related to a luxury real estate project linked to U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. The charges came on Monday. The investigation centers on a controversy over a a bombed-out military complex in central Belgrade that was a protected cultural heritage zone but that is facing redevelopment as a luxury compound by a company linked to Kushner. The $500 million proposal to build a high-rise hotel, offices and shops at the site has met fierce opposition from experts at home and abroad. Selakovic and others allegedly illegally lifted the protection status for the site by falsifying documentation.
