"To what purpose are powers limited, and to what purpose is that limitation committed to writing,
if these limits may, at any time, be passed by those intended to be restrained?"
-- Chief Justice John Marshall, Marbury v. Madison, 1803

Moon Dust

by West Virginia Rebel

"Mission Control, the urn has landed.”

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The moon could become a final resting place for some of mankind thanks to a commercial service that hopes to send human ashes to the lunar surface on robotic landers, the company said on Thursday.

Celestis, Inc., a company that pioneered the sending of cremated remains into suborbital space on rockets, said it would start a service to the surface of the moon that could begin as early as next year.

The cost starts at $10,000 for a small quantity of ashes from one person.

Celestis president Charles Chafer said his company reached an agreement with Odyssey Moon Ltd. and Astrobotic Technology Inc., to attach capsules containing cremated remains onto robotic lunar landers.

Odyssey Moon and Astrobotic are among private enterprises seeking to land a robotic craft on the moon and conduct scientific experiments. The cremation capsules would remain on the moon with the lunar landers when the missions were complete.

Chafer said he expected about 1,000 capsules containing ashes to be launched on the first lunar mission, expected in late 2009 or early 2010, and about 5,000 on future flights.

“The moon is a special place,” Chafer said, adding a half dozen people had already signed up for the service.

“For many people, it would be a romantic notion to look up into the sky and see the moon and know that your mom or dad or loved one is up there memorialized.”

A lunar grave? At least you wouldn’t have to worry about somebody mistaking you for an ashtray…

Comments

Posted by on 03/28/08 at 05:21 AM from

A lunar grave? At least you wouldn’t have to worry about somebody mistaking you for an ashtray…

Or a cat pan.

Posted by on 03/28/08 at 01:04 PM from

The cost starts at $10,000 for a small quantity of ashes from one person.

This sounds way too cheap to me.  But then again, it’s not like you are transporting live material.  I’m guessing this price doesn’t include the cremation itself. I know some people will think it’s stupid.  However, if we want to get into space in a meaningful way, we need to come up with a market for space travel.  This will be a start.

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