A Japanese space tourist says he loves a longer flight

MOSCOW – A Japanese space tourist said on Wednesday that his 12-day trip to the International Space Station was too short and he would like to stay another week.

Fashion magnate Yusaku Maezawa, her producer Yozo Hirano, and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin exploded at the station on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft on December 8 and returned to Earth on Monday.

“It takes three or four days to adjust, and then you find that there are eight days left, and that’s not enough,” Maezawa told reporters via a video link from the Star City Space Flight Training Center, where they are subjected to post-flight inspections.

“A 20-day mission would be ideal, but 30 days would be too much for me,” he added.

Maezawa, 46, and his 36-year-old producer Hirano were the first self-paying tourists to visit the space station after 2009. Misurkin was on his third space mission.

Asked about his impressions, Maezawa said the spaceflight made him realize that “we should take better care of the Earth.”

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“If people exercising power and influence had the opportunity to fly into orbit, they would have a different view of the Earth and a different attitude,” he said through an interpreter.

After asking the public for ideas before the flight, Maezawa had compiled a list of 100 things to do in space, including playing sports on the space station, such as badminton, table tennis, and golf.

Maezawa told reporters on Wednesday that he would love to do a space walk in the future. He pointed out that the space dose of the jars was a little too monotonous and added that he would consider ways to diversify it.

Speaking to the Associated Press last week in a live interview from the station, Maezawa said that “once you’re in space, you’ll realize how much it’s worth to have this amazing experience.”

When asked about reports that he paid more than $ 80 million for the 12-day mission, Maezawa said he could not disclose the amount of the contract, but admitted he paid “quite a lot” for that amount.

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The Virginia-based Space Adventures, which organized his flight, sent seven other tourists to the space station between 2001 and 2009.

Maezawa earned his fortune in retail fashion by opening Japan’s largest online fashion center, Zozotown. Forbes magazine has estimated his net worth at $ 1.9 billion.

Tycoon has also booked a flight around the moon on the starship Elon Musk, and there are eight race winners on the way with him. He said he plans to complete the mission in 2023.