“This is nothing less than a superpower,” gushes Dev Joshi, at the start of our conversation. Those who’ve watched the Baalveer franchise will recognize Joshi as the titular space superhero of the fantasy series. But a fortnight ago, the TV actor caught everyone’s attention in India when he became among the eight people selected for the first civilian mission to the moon on board Elon Musk-founded SpaceX’s spaceship. His name was announced by Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, who, in 2018, had purchased all the seats aboard the rocket.

So, how did he become a part of the dream crew? “I was shooting for Baalveer in March 2021 when I came across the dearMoon project. It was an online competition [where] we had to make an introductory video. After that, there were interviews on Zoom, assessments, and a meeting with Mr Maezawa. They got about 10 lakh applications from 249 countries,” he shares. 

He will be joined by DJ Steve Aoki, filmmaker Brendan Hall and YouTuber Tim Dodd from the US, Czech artist Yemi AD, British photographer Karim Iliya, Irish photographer Rhiannon Adam, and K-pop star TOP, for the week-long journey. 

“It will be a trip on a circumlunar trajectory around the moon aboard the Starship Rocket. As explained by Elon Musk, we are [trying to see] if we can leave the moon’s orbit and go farther away.”

The schedule for the 2023 trip has yet to be finalized.