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You Can Now Be "Buried" On the Moon
Dave Knott writes: Space burials are longer the stuff of science fiction (and wealthy science fiction TV show creators.) The cremated remains of more than 450 people have been shot into orbit. Yet, despite the promise of space being a unique "resting place," almost every tiny vial of remains ever sent there has come back down to Earth or burned up upon re-entry. This wouldn't have happened had the ashes landed on Earth's moon — a fact that hasn't been lost on the companies pioneering this futuristic funeral technology. The San Francisco-based company Elysium Space officially launched its 'lunar memorial' service earlier this month, and will soon be sending the remains of a U.S. Army Infantry Soldier's mother upwards as part of its first ever moon burial.
The company's website further explains how the lunar burials will work: "You receive a kit containing a custom ash capsule to collect a cremated remains sample. After we receive the ash capsule back from you, we place your capsule in the Elysium memorial spacecraft. The latter is eventually integrated to the Astrobotic lander during the designated integration event. From here, the lander is integrated onto the launch vehicle. On launch day, the remains are carried to the moon where the lander will be deployed to its dedicated location, preserving our memorial spacecraft for eternity." Because Elysium can only send a small portion of cremated remains to the moon (less than a gram), participants aren't actually paying to have their loved ones literally buried on the moon. However, this has not deterred the company from launching the service, charging $11,950 per "burial".
The company's website further explains how the lunar burials will work: "You receive a kit containing a custom ash capsule to collect a cremated remains sample. After we receive the ash capsule back from you, we place your capsule in the Elysium memorial spacecraft. The latter is eventually integrated to the Astrobotic lander during the designated integration event. From here, the lander is integrated onto the launch vehicle. On launch day, the remains are carried to the moon where the lander will be deployed to its dedicated location, preserving our memorial spacecraft for eternity." Because Elysium can only send a small portion of cremated remains to the moon (less than a gram), participants aren't actually paying to have their loved ones literally buried on the moon. However, this has not deterred the company from launching the service, charging $11,950 per "burial".
Clyde Tombaugh got a better funeral for his ashes - Pluto. Quite fitting and hard to beat within the solar system.
If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
Humans are idiots, dead or alive!
What a waste of resources. The selling argument '...preserving our memorial spacecraft for eternity.' is idotic, nothing is for eternity, in particular this solar system we all know perfectly will eventually be eaten by its Sun.
Achille Talon
Hop!
Color me skeptical. The cost of the fuel and launcher alone would be a few more zero. The only way they could do it at that cost, would be to have hundred of people "buried" in the same launch.
C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
visit randi.org
"When I die, I'd like to be scattered over my hometown. But not, like, cremated or anything." -- Mitch Berg
Non-Linux Penguins ?
From their 'how it works' site: http://elysiumspace.com/how-it...
"Depending on the initial altitude of the latter, our memorial spacecraft will respectfully and peacefully orbit the Earth from a few months to several years."
"Eventually, in a last poetic moment, the spacecraft will harmlessly reenter the Earth’s atmosphere, blazing as a shooting star."
So basically, just like every other 'ashes to space' launch. The word 'moon' appears nowhere.