SpaceX’s dearMoon mission has pitted two brothers against each other. One of the siblings said he was shocked – Business Insider India

Sometimes competition is healthy - but perhaps less so when you've unknowingly pitted yourself against your sibling for a chance to take part in a once-in-a lifetime opportunity.

Max and Charlie Denison-Pender are two brothers locked in rivalry for a place on Elon Musk's first civilian flight round the moon, which is slated for 2023. The trip is poised to last six days: three days to get to the moon and loop round the back of it, and three days to return to Earth.

He then announced an open competition for people to apply for the tickets. Originally, Maezawa said he would give the seats to artists but is now broadening the search.

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Eager to acquire a seat on the flight, both brothers entered the competition - separately.

For Charlie, though, entering the competition means more than just traveling on a historic flight round the moon. As a student of aerospace engineering at Brunel University, Charlie has ambitions to transform the future of travel beyond Earth.

"The reason why I'm interested in going on the flight is because one day I hope to start a space airliner," he said.

Meanwhile, Max, an artist, has been hard at work on his end-of-year exhibition. His interest in flying to the moon came as a complete shock to Charlie, given his creative background.

When asked how he'd feel if Max won the seat instead of him, Charlie answered: "I'd be secretly quite annoyed but also very happy for him at the same time."

But Charlie seems unbothered. "Generally, I'm pretty confident in Elon Musk and SpaceX, because he's been doing groundbreaking things for a long time and throughout the Starship prototypes and the testing, you can see the progress each time," he said.

As previously reported by Insider, Maezawa said the mission will include 10 to 12 people in total, including the eight civilians he will select.

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SpaceX's dearMoon mission has pitted two brothers against each other. One of the siblings said he was shocked - Business Insider India