Of course, dying on Mars might be cause for a burial there. And it’s not out of the question that some astronauts would call for their remains to be scattered in space, not brought back to Earth for burial. But that doesn’t do Earth-bound you much good.Space burials have been happening since 1997. Cremated ashes of the deceased are placed in a capsule the size of a tube of lipstick and launched into orbit aboard a rocket. The remains would circle the Earth between 10 and 240 years, until they descend back into the atmosphere where they burn up upon reentry. As of 2004, samples of about 150 people have been “buried” like this.The dead who have been beamed up include James Doohan, who played Scotty in Star Trek, the creator of Star Trek Gene Roddenberry, space illustrator Charles Oren Bennett, astronomer Clyde Tombaugh, who discovered Pluto, and Timothy Leary.Celestis, the only company that offers space burials, will bury 1 gram of your loved one’s ashes starting at $2,495. Burials in deep space cost approximately $12,500. It’s the ultimate post script for the space nerd in your life. Here’s the video pitch:By 2012, Celestis expects to be able to send “participants,” as the remains are called, to the surface of the Moon, starting at $9,995. For now, the only person to have the distinction of a lunar burial is Eugene Shoemaker, the astronomer and co-discoverer of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, whose remains landed there on July 31, 1999.As with other space travel, malfunctions can sometimes result in catastrophe. In August 2008, 208 cremated remains were lost in the failure of a Falcon 1 rocket. In such events, however, Celestis pledges to relaunch more remains on another flight.In the event of a failure during the first moon landing of Apollo 11, preparations were made for a space burial, somewhat akin to a burial at sea. Thanks to William Safire, Nixon even had a speech ready to deliver to the nation.The Russian crew of Soyuz 11 didn’t get that sort of an honor. They are the only astronauts to have died in space, when, in the horrific manner of science fiction tales, their cabin depressurized at an altitude of 168 kilometers.The possibilities of premeditated space burials are strange but tangible. As commercial spaceflight ascends, and as we run out of cemetery real estate, space won’t just be accessible to larger populations of the living, but apparently of the dying too.Start planning your space funeral now.IMAGE:unexplainedmysteries.com
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“Mr. and Mrs. Howe expressing their feelings of the launch and of participant, Philip Frederick Green” (www.celestis.com)
Spock is buried in space via torpedo coffin. From Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982).
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