Science News Summary: Japan's designer to go on Moon; mineral riches in the abyss

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Japan fashion guru Maezawa lands first SpaceX moon flight

SpaceX, Elon Musk's space transportation company, on Monday named its first private passenger on a voyage around the moon as Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, the founder and chief executive of online fashion retailer Zozo. A former drummer in a punk band, Maezawa is tentatively planning to make his moon flight in 2023 aboard SpaceX's forthcoming Big Falcon Rocket spaceship, taking the race to commercialize space travel to new heights.

Deep-sea robots reveal mineral riches in the abyss

From the safety of their research vessel, scientists are exploring one of Earth's last frontiers - the sea floor - to discover more about valuable minerals vital in the manufacture of smartphones. The scientists, from the University of Bergen in Norway, are sending robots 2,500 meters (8,000 feet) down into the waters between Norway and Greenland, to try to understand the environments potentially rich with rare earth minerals.

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