Space burial is a burial procedure where a small sample of the cremated ashes of the deceased are launched into space using a rocket. As of 2004, about 150 people have been buried in space.
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. Subsequently, all measures are undertaken to reduce the mass of the burial. The steps usually include:
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 capsule containing the remains circle the earth, until the upper layers of the Earth's atmosphere have slowed down the capsule, and it reenters the atmosphere. The capsule burns up upon reentry similar to a shooting star, and the ashes are scattered in the atmosphere. The time between launch and reenty depends on the orbit of the satelite, 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 athmosphere 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 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 to 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.
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 the remains of 24 people to an altitude of 11km (38,000 feet) above the Canary Islands. The rocked then carried the remains on a ellyptical 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 are Gene Roddenberry
The second space burial was the burial 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:
The next burial is sceduled for May 2004 from Baikonur Cosmodrome, as part of the LatinSat missions, containing 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 request for pet burial in space, the service is not yet available.This may also change in the future.
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 tothe believs 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 necessary for space burial.
