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May 4, 2023
A small private rocket carrying human remains bound for space encountered a "fatal anomaly" shortly after liftoff. According to the start-up offering these “space funeral services”, the ashes could be recovered.
Image above: The rocket, chartered by UP Aerospace, exploded seconds after launching from the New Mexico desert on May 1.
Texas start-up Celestis offers the possibility of sending human ashes into space for a “space funeral service”. But the last service was not a success: on May 1, the “little rocket”, chartered by the private company UP Aerospace and carrying 120 funeral urns, exploded a few seconds after its launch from the desert of New Mexico, reports Gizmodo. She was to make a short flight into space and then return to Earth. A video relayed by the local channel KVIA, shows the takeoff of the rocket:
Subsequently, the start-up produced a denial, published on its Twitter account. "You may have read in different media that your loved one's capsules had 'exploded'. But it is not so.” If the rocket was indeed destroyed, Celestis maintains that the “professionalism” of the company UP Aerospace made it possible to recover the payload intact. The ballot boxes will therefore be offered a free flight in the next mission, as soon as light is shed on the circumstances of this failed launch.
“Our space funeral service missions (Earth Rise) are designed to maximize the chances of recovery if the rocket does not reach space or return as planned,” she adds. Celestis offers different services ranging from round trip in space to orbiting the ballot boxes around the Earth – offered from 5,000 dollars.
The mission notably carried the ashes of a former NASA scientist, Philip K. Chapman, who died in April 2021 and was involved in the preparation of the lunar missions of the 1960s and 1970s. The man had never been able to go himself in space, pushing his relatives to offer him this symbolic journey. Also included were those of chemist Louise Ann O'Deen.
In addition, “the rocket had embarked thirteen payloads from NASA’s TechRise Student Challenge, containing experiments prepared by students from sixth to final year”, indicates the site specializing in new technologies. These could not be recovered.
Related links:
Celestis Inc. - Memorial Spaceflights: https://www.celestis.com/
Images, Video, Text, Credits: Celestis Inc./KVIA ABC-7/Courrier international/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.
