Cedar Falls Social Media Star Joins Elite Moon Mission

It's probably every little kid's dream to be an astronaut and blast off to the moon. Well, for one Cedar Falls native this dream looks like it might turn into a reality.

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You might know Tim Dodd from his online persona, the Everyday Astronaut and his subsequent YouTube channel. In the very near future, you'll also know him as one of the very few humans to go to the moon.

Dodd is a content creator who specializes in rocket science and the goal of his channel is to bring "space down to Earth for everyday people."

Now, he will be able to provide his 1.4 million followers a firsthand account of his own journey to the moon.

In 2017, SpaceX officials announced that they would be sending a civilian around the moon.  Yusaku Maezawa, a Japanese entrepreneur purchased all of the seats on this flight, and proceeded to seek out a crew to help him reach the stars.

Maezawa otherwise known as MZ wanted to give "as many talented individuals as possible the opportunity to go." This resulted in the project called dearMOON where the crew leader would give everyday people the chance to join him on his journey to the moon.

After receiving millions of applications, eight crew members and two backup members were selected for this mission. MZ announced the crew last month.

One of those crewmembers is Tim Dodd. The Cedar Falls YouTuber started out his career as a professional photographer in 2009 where he was able to travel around the globe. Nearly a decade ago he would snap professional photos of rocket launches at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

Dodd even worked with NASA’s Orion program to create social media content.

The Iowa man will be joining seven other crew members plus MZ in this expedition.

"My mission on this trip is to help share out experiences with you," Dodd explained in a recent video.

He's got quite a few goals for this mission. Not only does he want to help the average person get a better understanding of space flight and what it could mean for the world, but also wouldn't be against trying to set up some livestreams during the voyage.

You can listen to his full announcement video down below!

While we don't have the specifics of the timeline of the actual mission, we do know that it is set to take place sometime in the next year. In the meanwhile, Dodd and the other lucky crewmembers are currently in the middle of training and preparation!

Follow along with Tim Dodd's journey by keeping an eye on his socials!