Space burial

Space burial is a burial procedure where a small sample of the cremated ashes of the deceased in a lipstick sized capsule are launched into space using a rocket. As of 2004, samples of about 150 people have been buried in space.

Technical and economical aspects

The effort and cost of launching an object into space is very high. Furthermore, the cost is directly related to the payload, i.e. the mass of the object. Therefore various measures are taken to reduce the mass of the burial, which usually include:

• The corpse is cremated, reducing the mass of the remains to about 5% of the initial mass (a few kg)
• Only a small sample of the ashes is included, typically only 1g or 7g. The remainder of the ashes can be buried conventionally in the earth or in the sea.

Other measures to reduce cost include:

• No rockets are specially launched for this purpose, the samples of the remains are just part of the payload.
• Multiple remains are buried with the same rocket, although usually the remains are in separate capsules.

The capsules are kept together in a flight container, e.g. attached to the upper stage engine of the rocket, to avoid additional "space debris".

The second factor greatly influencing the cost includes the target location of the payload. Most burials do not actually leave the gravitational field of the earth but only achieve an orbit around earth. The capsules containing the samples of the remains circle the earth, until the upper layers of the Earth's atmosphere have slowed down the capsules, and they reenter the atmosphere. The capsules burn up upon reentry similar to a shooting star, and the ashes are scattered in the atmosphere. The time between launch and reentry depends on the orbit of the satellite, and can vary widely. The first burial reentered after only 5 years, but other burials are not expected to reenter in less than 250 years.

There are a number of alternative options if a reentry into the earth atmosphere is not desired. All of them are more complex and expensive than a burial in earth orbit. If an object leaves the gravitational field of the earth, it enters the gravitational field of another body in space. The closest object near the earth for that purpose is the moon. Although the moon is technically also in the gravitational field of the earth, it will not hit the earth within any human timeframe. A service is available for space burial on the moon. The so far only and most famous person buried this way is Dr. Eugene Shoemaker, (April 28, 1928 - July 18, 1997), best known for co-discovering the Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9.

If the moon is still too close, it is possible to launch the remains into outer space, although this is the most costly space burial currently available. As of 2004, nobody has been buried yet in outer space, although some companies accept reservations for this procedure.

History

The practice of space burials is a very recent practice due to the technical difficulties involved in launching an object into space. The very first space burial Earthview 01: The Founders Flight was launched on April 21, 1997. An aircraft carried a modified Pegasus rocket containing samples of the remains of 24 people to an altitude of 11km (38,000 feet) above the Canary Islands. The rocket then carried the remains on a elliptical orbit with an apogee of 578 km (361 miles) and a perigee of 551 km (344 miles), rotating around earth once every 96 minutes until reentry on May 20, 2002, northeast of Australia. Famous people buried on this flight were Gene Roddenberry and Timothy Leary.

The second space burial was the burial of a sample of the remains of Dr. Eugene Shoemaker on the moon by the Lunar Prospector probe, launched on January 7th 1998 by a three-stage Athena rocket. The probe containing scientific instruments and the ashes of Dr. Shoemaker impacted the moon near the lunar south pole on 4:52 a.m. Central Daylight Time, July 31, 1999.

The list of space burials to date:

• April 21, 1997: 24 remains samples launched into earth orbit on a modified Pegasus rocket
• January 7th 1998: Sample of the remains of Eugene Shoemaker as secondary payload on a three-stage Athena rocket to the moon
• February 10, 1998: 30 remains samples as a secondary payload launched into earth orbit on a Taurus missile
• December 20, 1999: 36 remains samples as a secondary payload launched into earth orbit on a Taurus missile
• September 21, 2001: 43 remains samples as a secondary payload launched into earth orbit on a Taurus missile

Outlook

The next burial is scheduled for May 2004 from Baikonur Cosmodrome, as part of the LatinSat missions, containing samples of the ashes of up to 150 participants.

Currently, only one company, Celestis, offers space burials. As science progresses it is expected that the cost and difficulties of space burials are reduced, and other companies may enter the market.

As of 2004, only cremated remains have been buried. Burial of a complete body is possible, but prohibitively expensive due to the weight of the body. However, this is likely to change in the future.

As of 2004, no pets have been buried in space yet. While there are requests for pet burial in space, the service is not yet available. This may also change in the future.

Religious aspects

Most religions do not provide special instructions for space burial due to the procedure being only a recent development, and only around 150 people have been buried in space so far. As only a small portion of the remains are buried, a regular funeral and burial ceremony can be performed according to the beliefs of the deceased, and only a small part of the remains are diverted into space. Due to the infrequency of the flights, the sample of the remains have to be stored until the next launch. Also, not all religions allow the bodies of deceased to be cremated, as is necessary for space burial.

Famous people buried in space

• Launched in the earth orbit on April 21, 1997.
  • Gene Roddenberry (August 19, 1921 - October 24, 1991), creator of Star Trek.
  • Gerard O'Neill (1927-1992) space physicist.
  • Krafft Ehricke, (1917-1984) rocket scientist.
  • Timothy Leary, (October 22, 1920 - May 31, 1996), American writer, psychologist, and drug campaigner.
• Buried on the moon on July 31, 1999
  • Dr. Eugene Shoemaker, (April 28, 1928 - July 18, 1997), Astronomer and co-discovering the Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9.

Fictional characters buried in space

• Mr. Spock, fictional character from Star Trek, was buried in a photon torpedo and fired onto the rapidly forming Genesis planet, which initiated his rebirth
• Captain Future, hero of the Edmond Hamilton stories with the same name, received a space burial. However, later it turns out that Captain Future is still alive, and a Doppelgänger has been buried instead.
• Ovaron, a character of the Perry Rhodan series, is buried in space in Volume 722: "A Message for Ovaron".
• Breckcrown Hayes, a character of the Perry Rhodan series, is buried in space in Volume 1048: "Atlan's Return".
• Frank Poole, in 2001: A Space Odyssey, although he is revived by science in 3001: The Final Odyssey.
• Phillip J. Fry, named after the main character in Futurama.
• Lieutenant John Kelly, a minor character on Star Trek: Voyager. He was the commander of the ill-fated Ares 4 mission to Mars. Lieutenant Kelly disappeared on October 19, 2032, captured by a graviton ellipse and died on board his spacecraft on October 25th. Kelly's body was retrieved by the crew of the Starship Voyager and buried in space circa stardate 53301.2 in 2376.
• Numerous other Star Trek characters have also been buried in space.
• Christopher "Maverick" Blair, in the original Wing Commander, is given a space burial if killed during a mission.

Space disasters

The list of space disasters shows that 14 astronauts and 4 cosmonauts have perished in flight as of 2004; 3 bodies had a normal landing, one victim crashed into Earth, and 14 were in a crash in the atmosphere and thus must have burnt and vaporized. Thus no remains of these victims are or have been in space.

Animal remains in space

A number of animals have died in space, see Animals in space. Not clear is whether there are still animal remains in space.