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Space Burial
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"Life begins when you can spend your spare time programming instead of watching television." -- Cal Keegan
"Life begins when you can spend your spare time programming instead of watching television." -- Cal Keegan
Broadcasting dead... (Score:5, Interesting)
They call the service Ad Astra. I like the dobule meaning of the word "ad" in that name...
Only so much carbon... (Score:3, Interesting)
Old news - they handled my brother (Score:5, Interesting)
Cheap (Score:5, Interesting)
a bit cheap (Score:5, Interesting)
There were already remains in orbit (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:a bit cheap (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:a bit cheap (Score:4, Interesting)
Immortality (Score:4, Interesting)
on a serious note... (Score:5, Interesting)
Yes, many of these coffin launches are going to get sucked up into solar gravity wells and burn up, but some are going to get caught in orbits around low-atmosphere bodies or other survivable situations.
My thinking behind this? the universe isnt *that* old compared to its predicted total lifespan; humankind may indeed be one of the 'first races'. By the time enough life-bearing planets produce that cycle, humanity may already be several hundred million years extinct. But putting our 'relics' (ie our corpses) out into the void, where they may survive fairly intact for far longer (assuming they have the sense to vacuum-pack our corpsicles) we stand a fair chance that something out in the distant future is going to find one of these human relics, and if they havent watched enough sci-fi, probably resurrect the human race from our DNA
[seriously, blasting your corpse into space probably has more value to it than any current cyrogenics program, as far as the odds of you being resurrected go, the cost of maintenance,[hopefuly none] and value to the human race (lets face it, most of the people going into alcor drums we probably dont want back!)
Certainly, I'd like to do this, on the condition that the launch params were sufficient to give me a good shot at escaping the sol system limits and not returning to ground as space-trash on one of our neighboring planets.
Re:Take down a space station (Score:3, Interesting)
The decay bateria are hungry! (Score:5, Interesting)
Denser elements come into being for millions of years, until the very oldest stars first burnt out, then re-ignited by burning heavy elements, until finally bursting in novas and flinging heavier elements out into the universe.
After many many such novas, eventually enough of these heavier elements were produced to coalesce and form our sun and its planets. One of the heavier elements -- carbon, some 12 times heavier than fundamental element hydrogen -- conveniently arranges itself into the benzene rings of six atoms that are the scaffold for all Earthly life. It is because of this that Carl Sagan said that we were all made of star-stuff.
And after all that work of billions of years to collect heavy elements here on Earth, you want to just throw away all that by shooting it into space?
Learn to recycle, fer cryin' out loud!
Re: story (Score:4, Interesting)
If you are pushed a hair off course, your remains will go into orbit around the sun, or be blown outward by the solar winds.
Even if you aim precisely at the sun, the ever increasing pressure of the solar discharge will tend to push you off course and away.
Whats wrong with good ol underground? (Score:3, Interesting)
Maybe the geosync orbit will be a belt of zombies visible from the ground, from which dead bodies will occasionally whack the windows of the next space station.
I'd much rather be thrown into the atmosphere, on the night side so people would see a shooting star and make a wish. Hopefully the shooting star will not reach the ground, now that would be messy.
Urban Legend? (Score:2, Interesting)
Rip Off (Score:5, Interesting)
Another rip off is the name a star after you, listed at the bottom as part of the cheaper option, I have researched this name a star after you after hearing it on the radio and thinking about naming one after my girlfriend (she is into cosmology) but after researching it I discovered that all the people do is write the name down in a book that the company has, but the company has no right to name the star (only the International Astronomical Union (IAU) has the right to officially name celestial objects), so all you get is an expensive piece of paper ($50 and up) and here they are charging $300 bucks for that a digital broadcast!!
Tom: No, actually, Helping Children Through Research And Development is the acronym, Mike. It stands for: Hi, Everyone, Let's Pitch In 'N' Get Cracking Here In Louisiana Doing Right, Eh? Now Then, Hateful, Rich, Overbearing Ugly Guys Hurt Royally Every Time Someone Eats A Radish, Carrot, Hors d'oeuvre, And Never Does Dishes. Eventually, Victor Eats Lunch Over Peoria Mit Ein Neuesberger Tod. .
Re:Only so much carbon... (Score:2, Interesting)
Do the math, it might surprise you.
Just before WWII we only would have needed a box half a mile to the side to pack away humanity, but we've grown a bit since then.
KFG
Bah! (Score:3, Interesting)
I don't think you understand the scale of things. Space...is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly hugely mind bogglingly big it is. I mean you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist, but that's just peanuts to space. [bbc.co.uk]
How do you decompose in space? (Score:5, Interesting)
Sorry for the gruesome question, but I'm curious.
Reminds me of a twilight zone episode... (Score:3, Interesting)
Astronauts land on a planet with lots of scenes from various periods of history but everyone there seem to be frozen in time, it's actually a great big cemetery planet where the rich have their bodies sent to live out eternity.
Not ambitious enough (Score:3, Interesting)
Or maybe burning in the sun wouldn't be so bad. There was another novel whose author and title I can't recall at the moment, in which one of the characters was a human transformed into an entity that could in fact survive in the sun. She discovered that there were intelligent creatures living there that were taking actions apparently designed to shorten the sun's life.
Gene Roddenberry was already 'buried' in space (Score:5, Interesting)
There's a old CNN article on it here [cnn.com]
Re:Take down a space station (Score:2, Interesting)
How much *space garbage* is there? How much of it will burn up on re-entry (given time)? How much is too large or in too high an orbit?
I would think, considering the size of space we've contributing very little garbage with the most being in some sort of earth orbit. With all the NASA/USSR satellites plus all the now commerical (communications, GPS, etc) we have to have.... what?, a hundred or so devices up there?
Just Drop Into the Sun from Sail Ship (Score:5, Interesting)
So don't push the body into the sun from orbit.
Do it from a solar sail craft that is hovering over the sun (from a point where light pressure is balanced between gravitational pull), and just drop the body in.
As far as I know, the idea belongs to Bob L. Forward [robertforward.com]. That's how one of the characters is "buried" at the end of his novel Flight of the Dragonfly [amazon.com] (which was later re-published in bloated form as Rocheworld; get the original).
Since the light sail craft was not in orbit, there was no forward component of motion. Thus, when released from the craft, the body was not in orbit either. The only force acting on the body was the gravitational pull of the star.
I prefer this Sweedish method (Score:5, Interesting)
Swedes offer freeze-dry burials
The environmentally-conscientious could soon ensure they don't end up polluting the earth after they die, thanks to a company in Sweden.
Concerns about the environmental impact of embalming fluids or cremation have led Promessa Organic to come up with a chilling alternative.
Their method involves freeze-drying the corpse in liquid nitrogen.
Sound vibrations then shatter the brittle remains into a powder that can be "returned to the ecological cycle".
Biologist and head of Promessa Organic Susanne Wiigh-Maesak said she hoped to promote environmental and existential awareness.
"Our ecological burial reduces environmental impact on some of our most important resources; our water, air and soil," she explains on her company website.
"At the same time it provides us with deeper insights regarding the ecological cycle, and greater understanding of and respect for life on earth."
Compost
After the freezing process, the odourless powdery remains are laid in a coffin made of corn starch and buried in a shallow grave.
Ms Wiigh-Maesak says the soil "turns the coffin and its contents into compost in about six months" which means relatives can then plant a bush or tree on the spot.
The method is based upon preserving the body in a biological form after death, while avoiding harmful embalming fluid
Susanne Wiigh-Maesak,
Promessa Organic
"The compost formed can then be taken up by the plant... The plant stands as a symbol of the person, and we understand where the body went," she said.
Ms Wiigh-Maesak says she would very much like to become a white rhododendron.
The company has applied for a patent on her method in 35 countries.
Ms Wiigh-Maesak said the authorities in Joenkoeping, 328 km (204 miles) south-west of Stockholm, were ready to start operating its first freeze-drying facility in the next couple of years.
The head of cemetery administration in Joenkoeping said younger people were keen on the idea as "green burials" are becoming popular in Sweden.
Re:How do you decompose in space? (Score:4, Interesting)
Actually, the decompression would get you before you had the change to find out. You bones would hold up and maybe some of your muscles. Your other organs wouldn't be so lucky though.
But hey, at least that part of you that somehow stays together will stay intact for the long haul. The cold of space would freeze it pretty quickly.
-B
Re:Cemeteries are landfills (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:You want to burn in the Sun? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Broadcasting dead... (Score:5, Interesting)
Only in this case it's more like "Klingon want some Viagra?".
Re:Cemeteries are landfills (Score:3, Interesting)
The Loved One (Score:2, Interesting)
Maybe it was the business with launching dead pets into space for burial, or maybe Aimee Thanatogenos taking that ride, eh?
Hmmmm. I'll have to find a copy of that movie somewhere. Haven't seen it for years.
Re:Cemeteries are landfills (Score:3, Interesting)
Trash in space (Score:3, Interesting)
If anybody is interested in an anime which deals with this issue, I HIGHLY recommend Planet ES [animenfo.com]. It deals with a salaryman in space who works as a space debris collector (futuristic garbageman). Apparently space trash is a HUGE problem in the series, and even a tiny screw floating out in space can kill if its moving fast enough. Very interesting. I wonder how closely our future will mirror this.
Re:Cemeteries are landfills (Score:4, Interesting)
The people are not worthless. But their bodies are. You aren't (normally) attached to the bodies of your friends and families, you're attached to their minds and souls. No matter what you do with the body, whether you burn it or bury it, the soul is not around any more. The body is just a bit of decomposing matter. Ecologically speaking, it's garbage.
I would rather have my ashes scattered in a place that I loved, so that my family could remember me every time they were there, and so that my body would go back into the nature environment and nurture new life. I'd rather go out in a burst of flame than slowly be eaten away by worms over the decades.
Many cultures manage to do quite well without cemetaries - Japan has a 97% cremation rate. While I respect the right of people to dispose of their bodies as they see fit, I believe that the US would be better off if we did the same.
Re:Broadcasting dead... (Score:5, Interesting)
Would be kinda cool to send the instructions to build youself out into the cosmos. I am sure one could calculate the probability of a significantly advanced live form to intercept your message and build a clone of you just for the heck of it.
Hmmm i think i smell a great plot for sci fi story.
Mars landing (Score:5, Interesting)
rock on
You've missed the point. (Score:2, Interesting)
I don't have a good answer for that, myself. I don't have any answer.
Re:Trash in space (Score:2, Interesting)
The manga PLANETES is a love letter to space travel. If you love space give the manga a shot.
Re:Broadcasting dead... (Score:3, Interesting)
Interestingly, I just read Second Genesis by Donald Moffitt, which is based on a not too dissimilar idea. (Pretty decent afternoon read, if you're into that kind of book.)
what if? (Score:2, Interesting)
what if one of these bodys manage to get to the surface of a non-habiteted planet? wouldn't that "contaminate" the planet?
and what if this body reaches a planet with simple life forms, probably the bordy will have some bacteria or virii, that could be a big hazard to native life
Collisions? (Score:2, Interesting)