Science & Technology

‘Overwhelmed’ space tourist Maezawa lauds virtues of spacesuit

Moscow, Oct 14 (EFE).- Japanese billionaire Yusaka Maezawa, who made his fortune in fashion and will fly to the International Space Station (ISS) as a tourist on December 8, praised the spacesuit made by Russian company Zvezda that he will wear when he blasts off into orbit.

“When you put on this suit, you understand that it embodies the knowledge, experience and enthusiasm of people who have been doing this for many decades,” he said at a press conference, together with the other crew members of the Soyuz MS-20, his assistant Yoso Hinaro and Russian cosmonaut Alexandr Mizurkin.

According to the Japanese businessman, who amassed his fortune with a business selling tailor-made clothing through a mobile application, “everything is functional” in the Russian spacesuit. “This amazes me,” he added.

But he admitted that training with the suit on is an exhausting process.

“The emotions overwhelm me every time I put on the suit,” he said.

He said he felt no “fear or trepidation” about the upcoming flight, despite being the first Japanese civilian to fly into space, as he is “convinced of the safety” of the Soyuz MS-20 that will take him to the ISS, which he will stay on for 12 days.

Maezawa, who has also been invited by Elon Musk to be the first civilian and the first Japanese citizen to travel around the moon in a SpaceX Starship in 2023, confessed that despite finding it hard, the training is “very interesting and enjoyable”.

He was most impressed by the weightlessness tests.

“I’m 45 years old and I’ve never experienced anything like it. At first I felt very uncomfortable, I couldn’t control the movements of my hands and legs, but when I got used to it, it turned out to be very pleasant,” he said.

In addition to making his mark in the fashion business, he is an important art patron in Japan through his foundation, Gendai Art.

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