Brett Andersen wants to go to the moon and he wants your help to get there.
The Victoria, B.C., man is one of the thousands around the world campaigning to win one of eight slots Japanese billionaire and fashion designer Yusaku Maewa is offering for a trip to the lunar orbit with SpaceX.
Maezawa launched the initiative, dubbed “dearMoon” on social media on Tuesday, looking for a “diverse audience” of fellow passengers and with a particular interest in artists.
“I’m a huge space nerd,” Andersen says in an Instagram video launching his bid. “Becoming an astronaut is my biggest dream and goal in life.”
This isn’t the first time Andersen has had a brush with the heavens.
Back in 2015, he won a Land Rover competition to earn a spot aboard a Virgin Galactic flight to orbit, he told Global News Morning BC.
“But the shuttle I was supposed to fly on ended up crashing. So they had to give me obviously a different prize,” he said.
“I’d come really close … I just can’t help but feel like this is a real shot for me.”
Maezewa has issued two criteria for someone to win a spot on the moon flight.
One is that by going to space all participants “must be pushing the envelope in whatever activity (they’re) into,” while the other is to be willing to “support other crew members who share ‘similar aspirations.'”
In his pitch video, Anderson says he meets both conditions.
“For over 10 years now, I’ve been hauling my camera gear deep into nature to document my adventures and bring the audience along with me. I would love the opportunity to help tell the story and bring the whole world along with me on this adventure,” he said of the first point.
As a long-time hospitality worker, he said he also meets the second point. “Helping people is my passion.”
So why is Andersen so keen on going to space?
“I think there’s so much wisdom and peace out there,” he told Global News.
“We can all get so caught up in the day to day craziness of the world, and I think having the opportunity to zoom out and look back at Earth and see that, you know, all of our problems and all of our joys and all the people we love and all the people that challenge us, we’re all together on this beautiful blue little speck in space.”
As a part of his campaign, Andersen is asking people to tag Maezawa in his Instagram video, which has racked up about 6,700 views so far.
Maezawa says he will cover all costs for the trip, resulting in what amounts to a “free ticket to the moon.”
Other would-be astronauts can sign up for details at his website.
Maezawa is expected to release more details about the screening process on March 15.
The SpaceX Starship voyage is slated to spend three days flying to the moon, looping around it, and returning to earth over a second three-day period in 2023.