Yusaku Maezawa landed in Kazakhstan after 12 days of space flight

Yusaku Maezawa, along with his assistant Yozo Hirano and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin, set off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on December 8. The 46-year-old fashion giant and art collector set foot on the Kazakh steppe after 12 days of space travel. A space enthusiast, Maezawa made the journey aboard a Soyuz spacecraft, becoming the first space tourist to travel to the International Space Station (ISS) in over a decade. One of Japan's most flamboyant public figures, Maezawa entertained his social media followers from outer space by snapping photos of his hometown of Chiba Prefecture, showing how to make tea in zero gravity, and talking about the shortage of fresh underwear. The entrepreneur returned to snowy conditions on Earth with precipitation and sub-zero temperatures at the landing site about 150 km (93 mi) southeast of the town of Zhezkazgan in central Kazakhstan. Maezawa will be the first private passenger on a SpaceX moon trip in 2023, as commercial firms including Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin usher in a new era of space travel for wealthy customers. The billionaire, who sold his online fashion business Zozo to SoftBank in 2019, is looking for eight people who will join him on his journey to the moon in 2023, which requires applicants to pass medical tests and an interview.