News Brief: A year and a half after saying it had two passengers signed up for a privately funded flight around the moon, SpaceX says it will reveal the first passenger’s identity on Monday. In a tweet, SpaceX said the mission would be “an important step toward enabling access for everyday people who dream of traveling to space.” The launch vehicle would be SpaceX’s yet-to-be-built BFR (Big Falcon Rocket), which is expected to be ready by the early 2020s, rather than the Falcon Heavy as previously planned. So let the guessing game begin: Will the first named passenger be Google co-founder Sergey Brin? Would-be moon traveler (and billionaire) Harald McPike? Register your pick in the comment section. I’m willing to mail a free pair of 3-D glasses to the first commenter with the right guess.
Update for 6:36 p.m. PT Sept. 13: Is it SpaceX founder Elon Musk? Musk replied to a tweeted question with a Japan flag emoji — which set off a new round of speculation. Expect more detective work over the weekend.
Update for 5:20 p.m. PT Sept. 17: Tune in the webcast for the event, which is due to start at 6 p.m. PT Sept. 17:
