Posted by
michael
on from the burial-not-exactly-the-right-word dept.
roman_mir writes "Celestis is the name of a company that is offering space burials for some $11K USD. Isn't this nice, like there is not enough garbage in space already... So, how many of you want to be buried in space? I want to burn in the Sun (or at least the egomaniacal part of me.)"
Broadcasting dead...
by
LostCluster
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· Score: 5, Interesting
As a lower cost option, these people allow you to broadcast a digital message which can contain any audio or picture format you want into space.
They call the service Ad Astra. I like the dobule meaning of the word "ad" in that name...
Re:Broadcasting dead...
by
Camel+Pilot
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· Score: 5, Interesting
Too bad getting getting your DNA sequenced still costs too much.
Would be kinda cool to send the instructions to build youself out into the cosmos. I am sure one could calculate the probability of a significantly advanced live form to intercept your message and build a clone of you just for the heck of it.
Hmmm i think i smell a great plot for sci fi story.
Old news - they handled my brother
by
wowbagger
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
This is old news - Celestis handled my brother back in 2000.
Only $11,000? Thats pretty cheap, considering the cost of taking a pound of gear into orbit. How do they get human remains that light? Even when you cremate a body, significant bones and dust remain. What do they do, throw away most of it and just send up a little bit of each person on their sattelite? Cremated remains can weigh upwards of two to five pounds. I'm wondering if this is all a scam, considering the high cost of burial space in certain geographical areas. In some places, a burial plot can cost even more than $11,000.
-- Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
on a serious note...
by
databeast
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
..I've always thought that space burials are one of the best ways we have a shot at 'meeting' alien races.
Yes, many of these coffin launches are going to get sucked up into solar gravity wells and burn up, but some are going to get caught in orbits around low-atmosphere bodies or other survivable situations.
My thinking behind this? the universe isnt *that* old compared to its predicted total lifespan; humankind may indeed be one of the 'first races'. By the time enough life-bearing planets produce that cycle, humanity may already be several hundred million years extinct. But putting our 'relics' (ie our corpses) out into the void, where they may survive fairly intact for far longer (assuming they have the sense to vacuum-pack our corpsicles) we stand a fair chance that something out in the distant future is going to find one of these human relics, and if they havent watched enough sci-fi, probably resurrect the human race from our DNA:-)
[seriously, blasting your corpse into space probably has more value to it than any current cyrogenics program, as far as the odds of you being resurrected go, the cost of maintenance,[hopefuly none] and value to the human race (lets face it, most of the people going into alcor drums we probably dont want back!)
Certainly, I'd like to do this, on the condition that the launch params were sufficient to give me a good shot at escaping the sol system limits and not returning to ground as space-trash on one of our neighboring planets.
The decay bateria are hungry!
by
orthogonal
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
Science seems convinced that in the early universe, only the elements with the lowest atomic weight -- hydrogen, helium, perhaps a few others -- existed.
Denser elements come into being for millions of years, until the very oldest stars first burnt out, then re-ignited by burning heavy elements, until finally bursting in novas and flinging heavier elements out into the universe.
After many many such novas, eventually enough of these heavier elements were produced to coalesce and form our sun and its planets. One of the heavier elements -- carbon, some 12 times heavier than fundamental element hydrogen -- conveniently arranges itself into the benzene rings of six atoms that are the scaffold for all Earthly life. It is because of this that Carl Sagan said that we were all made of star-stuff.
And after all that work of billions of years to collect heavy elements here on Earth, you want to just throw away all that
Read the small print, they send a "symbolic portion" of the cremated body, that could be one speck of the ash, that way you can send up an unlimited number of bodies in one go, sounds like a license to print money to me!
Another rip off is the name a star after you, listed at the bottom as part of the cheaper option, I have researched this name a star after you after hearing it on the radio and thinking about naming one after my girlfriend (she is into cosmology) but after researching it I discovered that all the people do is write the name down in a book that the company has, but the company has no right to name the star (only the International Astronomical Union (IAU) has the right to officially name celestial objects), so all you get is an expensive piece of paper ($50 and up) and here they are charging $300 bucks for that a digital broadcast!!
Tom: No, actually, Helping Children Through Research And Development is the acronym, Mike. It stands for: Hi, Everyone, Let's Pitch In 'N' Get Cracking Here In Louisiana Doing Right, Eh? Now Then, Hateful, Rich, Overbearing Ugly Guys Hurt Royally Every Time Someone Eats A Radish, Carrot, Hors d'oeuvre, And Never Does Dishes. Eventually, Victor Eats Lunch Over Peoria Mit Ein Neuesberger Tod.
.
I prefer this Sweedish method
by
WormholeFiend
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· Score: 5, Interesting
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3473103.stm
Swedes offer freeze-dry burials The environmentally-conscientious could soon ensure they don't end up polluting the earth after they die, thanks to a company in Sweden. Concerns about the environmental impact of embalming fluids or cremation have led Promessa Organic to come up with a chilling alternative.
Their method involves freeze-drying the corpse in liquid nitrogen.
Sound vibrations then shatter the brittle remains into a powder that can be "returned to the ecological cycle".
Biologist and head of Promessa Organic Susanne Wiigh-Maesak said she hoped to promote environmental and existential awareness.
"Our ecological burial reduces environmental impact on some of our most important resources; our water, air and soil," she explains on her company website.
"At the same time it provides us with deeper insights regarding the ecological cycle, and greater understanding of and respect for life on earth."
Compost
After the freezing process, the odourless powdery remains are laid in a coffin made of corn starch and buried in a shallow grave.
Ms Wiigh-Maesak says the soil "turns the coffin and its contents into compost in about six months" which means relatives can then plant a bush or tree on the spot.
The method is based upon preserving the body in a biological form after death, while avoiding harmful embalming fluid Susanne Wiigh-Maesak, Promessa Organic
"The compost formed can then be taken up by the plant... The plant stands as a symbol of the person, and we understand where the body went," she said. Ms Wiigh-Maesak says she would very much like to become a white rhododendron.
The company has applied for a patent on her method in 35 countries.
Ms Wiigh-Maesak said the authorities in Joenkoeping, 328 km (204 miles) south-west of Stockholm, were ready to start operating its first freeze-drying facility in the next couple of years.
The head of cemetery administration in Joenkoeping said younger people were keen on the idea as "green burials" are becoming popular in Sweden.
Mars landing
by
dialsoft
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
I think that it would be great to be buried in space with a trajectory towards a planet that one day you will be either discovered there or your dna or whatever part of your decomposed body could contribute to the evolution of life on that planet in 22342342 million years.
Slashdot Mirror
As a lower cost option, these people allow you to broadcast a digital message which can contain any audio or picture format you want into space.
They call the service Ad Astra. I like the dobule meaning of the word "ad" in that name...
This is old news - Celestis handled my brother back in 2000.
www.eFax.com are spammers
Only $11,000? Thats pretty cheap, considering the cost of taking a pound of gear into orbit. How do they get human remains that light? Even when you cremate a body, significant bones and dust remain. What do they do, throw away most of it and just send up a little bit of each person on their sattelite? Cremated remains can weigh upwards of two to five pounds. I'm wondering if this is all a scam, considering the high cost of burial space in certain geographical areas. In some places, a burial plot can cost even more than $11,000.
Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
..I've always thought that space burials are one of the best ways we have a shot at 'meeting' alien races.
:-)
Yes, many of these coffin launches are going to get sucked up into solar gravity wells and burn up, but some are going to get caught in orbits around low-atmosphere bodies or other survivable situations.
My thinking behind this? the universe isnt *that* old compared to its predicted total lifespan; humankind may indeed be one of the 'first races'. By the time enough life-bearing planets produce that cycle, humanity may already be several hundred million years extinct. But putting our 'relics' (ie our corpses) out into the void, where they may survive fairly intact for far longer (assuming they have the sense to vacuum-pack our corpsicles) we stand a fair chance that something out in the distant future is going to find one of these human relics, and if they havent watched enough sci-fi, probably resurrect the human race from our DNA
[seriously, blasting your corpse into space probably has more value to it than any current cyrogenics program, as far as the odds of you being resurrected go, the cost of maintenance,[hopefuly none] and value to the human race (lets face it, most of the people going into alcor drums we probably dont want back!)
Certainly, I'd like to do this, on the condition that the launch params were sufficient to give me a good shot at escaping the sol system limits and not returning to ground as space-trash on one of our neighboring planets.
Denser elements come into being for millions of years, until the very oldest stars first burnt out, then re-ignited by burning heavy elements, until finally bursting in novas and flinging heavier elements out into the universe.
After many many such novas, eventually enough of these heavier elements were produced to coalesce and form our sun and its planets. One of the heavier elements -- carbon, some 12 times heavier than fundamental element hydrogen -- conveniently arranges itself into the benzene rings of six atoms that are the scaffold for all Earthly life. It is because of this that Carl Sagan said that we were all made of star-stuff.
And after all that work of billions of years to collect heavy elements here on Earth, you want to just throw away all that by shooting it into space?
Learn to recycle, fer cryin' out loud!
Opinions on the Twiddler2 hand-held keyboard?
Read the small print, they send a "symbolic portion" of the cremated body, that could be one speck of the ash, that way you can send up an unlimited number of bodies in one go, sounds like a license to print money to me!
Another rip off is the name a star after you, listed at the bottom as part of the cheaper option, I have researched this name a star after you after hearing it on the radio and thinking about naming one after my girlfriend (she is into cosmology) but after researching it I discovered that all the people do is write the name down in a book that the company has, but the company has no right to name the star (only the International Astronomical Union (IAU) has the right to officially name celestial objects), so all you get is an expensive piece of paper ($50 and up) and here they are charging $300 bucks for that a digital broadcast!!
Tom: No, actually, Helping Children Through Research And Development is the acronym, Mike. It stands for: Hi, Everyone, Let's Pitch In 'N' Get Cracking Here In Louisiana Doing Right, Eh? Now Then, Hateful, Rich, Overbearing Ugly Guys Hurt Royally Every Time Someone Eats A Radish, Carrot, Hors d'oeuvre, And Never Does Dishes. Eventually, Victor Eats Lunch Over Peoria Mit Ein Neuesberger Tod. .
Post apocalyptic gaming goodness
Anybody know how the human body decays in space?
Sorry for the gruesome question, but I'm curious.
There's a old CNN article on it here
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3473103.stm
Swedes offer freeze-dry burials
The environmentally-conscientious could soon ensure they don't end up polluting the earth after they die, thanks to a company in Sweden.
Concerns about the environmental impact of embalming fluids or cremation have led Promessa Organic to come up with a chilling alternative.
Their method involves freeze-drying the corpse in liquid nitrogen.
Sound vibrations then shatter the brittle remains into a powder that can be "returned to the ecological cycle".
Biologist and head of Promessa Organic Susanne Wiigh-Maesak said she hoped to promote environmental and existential awareness.
"Our ecological burial reduces environmental impact on some of our most important resources; our water, air and soil," she explains on her company website.
"At the same time it provides us with deeper insights regarding the ecological cycle, and greater understanding of and respect for life on earth."
Compost
After the freezing process, the odourless powdery remains are laid in a coffin made of corn starch and buried in a shallow grave.
Ms Wiigh-Maesak says the soil "turns the coffin and its contents into compost in about six months" which means relatives can then plant a bush or tree on the spot.
The method is based upon preserving the body in a biological form after death, while avoiding harmful embalming fluid
Susanne Wiigh-Maesak,
Promessa Organic
"The compost formed can then be taken up by the plant... The plant stands as a symbol of the person, and we understand where the body went," she said.
Ms Wiigh-Maesak says she would very much like to become a white rhododendron.
The company has applied for a patent on her method in 35 countries.
Ms Wiigh-Maesak said the authorities in Joenkoeping, 328 km (204 miles) south-west of Stockholm, were ready to start operating its first freeze-drying facility in the next couple of years.
The head of cemetery administration in Joenkoeping said younger people were keen on the idea as "green burials" are becoming popular in Sweden.
I think that it would be great to be buried in space with a trajectory towards a planet that one day you will be either discovered there or your dna or whatever part of your decomposed body could contribute to the evolution of life on that planet in 22342342 million years.
rock on