"Space now," was what Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa wanted to tweet for years. He finally really did it, from the International Space Station.
Maezawa, 46, blasted off in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft along with a Russian cosmonaut Dec. 8, becoming the first self-paying tourist to visit the station since 2009. He tweeted "uchyu nau," or "space now," in the style Japanese often use on the popular social media to relay what they're up to, such as "partying now," or "dinner now."
"I don't know when exactly I should tweet that," he said, as he wouldn't be landing on the moon. "Maybe when we get to the back side of the moon." In 2019, Maezawa resigned as CEO of e-commerce company Zozo Inc. to devote his time to space travel, selling his business to Yahoo Japan. Forbes magazine estimates his wealth at $1.9 billion.