Space, The Final Frontier .... errr ... Resting Place

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It’s good to learn a new odd thing every now and then. Today I learnt about “Space Burial”. Space burial refers to exactly what its literal meaning is. The cremated remains are carried out to the outer space into the orbit of earth, or other planetary system or maybe into the deep space.

But don’t worry, these won’t be scattered into the space to add up to the space debris but they stay sealed within their space vehicle till it reaches its final extra terrestrial destination. More information are available in the wiki site wiki/Space_burial

Private companies such as Celestis, Inc. and Elysium Space offer space burial services. I have found out that the cost starts from around $2000, which is actually quite a small price to pay for being able to flirt with the stars. This is an option, I would not mind considering when time comes for my final destination.

The website of Celestis celestis.com declared that there are two missions scheduled for this year. One can take the advantage of either The Tribute Flight, scheduled for launch on November 5, 2015 from New Mexico's Spaceport America, or The Heritage Flight, scheduled for launch in the 4th quarter of 2015 from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Elysium Space elysiumspace.com provides three space burial service options. The plans are “Shooting star memorial” for remaining in the earth’s orbit, “Lunar memorial” to remain in the moon’s surface and “Milky way memorial” to travel to the deep space.

 Interestingly one of the first person to be buried in the space happens to be Gene Roddenberry, the creator of the Star Trek. I found this quite symbolic. Following are some statistics, sourced from wiki site, about the missions undertaken till date.