MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th July, 2021) Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, who is set to travel to the International Space Station (ISS) on Soyuz MS-20 spacecraft in December, shared with Sputnik his plans to cook national dishes in space.
"Yes and I would love to share with the other crew in the ISS," Maezawa responded when asked if he was going to cook Japanese food on the ISS.
Maezawa, 45, noted that he had always been curious about what space really looked like, and the trip to the ISS would give him a chance to find it out. The ideas for what to do on the station itself and film for the space v-log came from the online community, he added.
"We launched a special website to accept applications for '100 things you want MZ to do in space!' from all over the world and we have received more than 7,000 applications," Maezawa said.
So far, the space tourist has decided to take the camera to shoot his YouTube videos, while the rest of the items are still under consideration. Maezawa did not rule out the possibility of bringing a musical instrument with him saying he would love to play drums on the ISS.
In 2023, the Japanese businessman is also expected to fly to the moon on Elon Musk's SpaceX Starship. Maezawa stressed that staying at the ISS will better prepare him for "what to expect in space" during his moon flight.
Maezawa together with his assistant Yozo Hirano are scheduled to leave for the ISS on December 8 on the Soyuz MS-20 spacecraft. The flight is expected to last 12 days, and the crew will be led by Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin.
The tourists are currently undergoing pre-flight training at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center outside Moscow.
The last time Russian state space agency Roscosmos took a tourist to the ISS was in 2009, with Guy Laliberte, a co-founder of Cirque du Soleil, aboard.
