ucbesvax.turner@ucbcad.UUCP (07/05/83)
#N:ucbesvax:8700003:000:850 ucbesvax!turner Jul 3 07:50:00 1983 I understand that NASA has decided that burial in space is one of the commercial applications that they prefer not to explore. I think this is terribly short-sighted. There are more than enough egotists out there would would gladly pay $5K a piece to have their ashes mixed in with a ceramic goo, to be dried in aerodynamic molds, carried aloft, and put in a rapidly decaying orbit which had been carefully computed to effect terminal entry (and a pretty flash in the night sky) for the benefit of the those attending outdoor evening memorial ceremonies. Possibly, these artificial meteors could be timed to within a fraction of minute, thus allowing for very high volume funeral services on a national scale, with very predictable satisfaction of customers. A Totally Sick, Pagan Degenerate, Michael Turner ucbvax!ucbesvax.turner
ecl@ahuta.UUCP (ecl) (01/29/85)
The latest venture of Space Services, Inc. (owner of the Conestoga rockets) is
***Space Burial***
Yes, you can be buried in space! Just have someone send your cremated remains
("cremains," as they were called in the news story on NPR this morning) to SSI
(not to be confused with the Princeton-based Space Studies Institute, also
called SSI), and they will further reduce them to fit into a capsule
approximately 1" by 1-1/4" which will be inscribed with your name, social
security number, and (optional) religious symbol of your choice. Then a
capsule containing several thousand of these will be placed into low earth
orbit (through the Van Allen Belt, which has very little satellite traffic).
Oh, yes--the nosecone will be reflective so that your loved ones can, with the
aid of a telescope, watch your remains cruise through the sky.
(The cost of all this is $3900, which SSI claims is not much more than an
earth-based funeral. Of course, there's the cost of cremation on top of
that, and the telescope,...)
This brings a whole new meaning to the hymn, "Nearer, My God, to Thee"!
Evelyn C. Leeper
...{ihnp4, houxm, hocsj}!ahuta!eclkarn@petrus.UUCP (01/30/85)
What a stupid idea. It's not enough that humans have to waste on cemeteries the land that's scarce enough in some areas to fight wars over (which is one good way to fill them). After all the amount of land in the world is essentially constant and the number of dead people in the world is monotonically increasing. Now we have to waste one of mankinds's most expensive and potentially valuable technological systems we have on it as well. Ah, progress and free enterprise. What else would you expect from a country that gave you both Ronald Reagan and William Proxmire? Phil (I want to be cremated when I die) Karn
ndiamond@watdaisy.UUCP (Norman Diamond) (01/30/85)
> It's not enough that humans have to waste on cemeteries the land that's > scarce enough in some areas to fight wars over (which is one good way to > fill them). After all the amount of land in the world is essentially > constant and the number of dead people in the world is monotonically > increasing. > Phil (I want to be cremated when I die) Karn Until "recently" (historically speaking), it was not uncommon for the same cemetery plots to be re-used, after intervals of around 10 or 50 years or so. This practice changed when squeamish people migrated to a continent that had an infinite supply of land. (They also obtain infinite supplies of fresh water, food, trees for paper, etc., from this land.) -- Norman Diamond UUCP: {decvax|utzoo|ihnp4|allegra|clyde}!watmath!watdaisy!ndiamond CSNET: ndiamond%watdaisy@waterloo.csnet ARPA: ndiamond%watdaisy%waterloo.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa "Opinions are those of the keyboard, and do not reflect on me or higher-ups."
fisher@dvinci.DEC (Burns Fisher, MRO3-1/E13, DTN 231-4108) (01/31/85)
<for the space burial ground>
> ...a new venture for Space Services Inc.: Space Burial
There were more details in the local paper: It is not SSI who is running this
venture but rather a company (whose name I forget) which include former
astronaut Deke Slayton. They have signed a contract with SSI for the later
to provide the launch services. The cremains will be orbited in the VanAllen
radiation belt, presumably to avoid taking up valuable "real estate" since
that region is not a particularly friendly to spacecraft with active
electronics.
One feature of the service is that the orbiting capsule will be made of highly
reflective material, so that berieved friends and relatives can look up in the
sky at the right time at night and see Uncle Joe passing overhead.
The company is also considering (higher priced) services to allow ones cremains
to be sent to other further away places. I don't know if SSI can provide
solar system escape velocity services, but the article talked about Mars
(solar orbit at the same distance from the sun as?)
Personally, I hope to get into space before I croak, and I don't really give a
whit what happens to my cremains after it's all over!
Burns
UUCP: ... {decvax|allegra|ucbvax}!decwrl!rhea!dvinci!fisher
ARPA: decwrl!rhea!dvinci!fisher@{Berkeley | SU-Shasta}eugene@ames.UUCP (Eugene Miya) (02/05/85)
> > ...a new venture for Space Services Inc.: Space Burial
150 miles North of SF Bay, there sits the remains of 20,000 individuals
who had paid for burial at sea and are now basically sitting in a
backyard. (Part of the Nepture Society.) While Space Burial might be
an honest endeavor, caveat emptor! It is a sad statement about free
enterprise when crooks see an novelty (burials, computers, what ever)
and take advantage of the unknowing. It is also a sad statement of
governmental bureaucracy, but that is another story.
--eugene miya
NASA Ames Research Center
{hplabs,ihnp4,dual,hao,vortex}!ames!aurora!eugene
emiya@ames-vmsb.ARPAgino@voder.UUCP (Gino Bloch) (02/08/85)
[buried at sea] > 150 miles North of SF Bay, there sits the remains of 20,000 individuals > who had paid for burial at sea and are now basically sitting in a > backyard. (Part of the Nepture Society.) The Neptune Society hired a pilot to dump the ashes; they intended that he do that, and it is reported that HE decided to do it the easy way. If they are culpable, it was not by intent but by failure to check/supervise. The above represents my memory of the newspaper reportage of the incident. -- Gene E. Bloch (...!nsc!voder!gino) The opinions expressed above are accidents.
al@mot.UUCP (Al Filipski) (02/12/85)
>Yes, you can be buried in space! Just have someone send your cremated remains >("cremains," as they were called in the news story on NPR this morning) to SSI >(not to be confused with the Princeton-based Space Studies Institute, also >called SSI), and they will further reduce them to fit into a capsule >approximately 1" by 1-1/4" which will be inscribed with your name, social >security number, and (optional) religious symbol of your choice. Then a >capsule containing several thousand of these will be placed into low earth >orbit (through the Van Allen Belt, which has very little satellite traffic). Compact little shapes? (like what the Kelvans did to the crew of the Enterprise) Low Earth orbit? What a drag. I think I'll wait until they can give my carcass enough energy to leave the solar system. I can't decide whether I'd like to have my arms outstretched like Superman or maybe even go feet first. Imparting a stately slow roll to the body might be dignified but I'd be mad if they set that sucker tumbling arsey-varsey. Real comforting, thinking about gliding along that infinite mean free path until you sublimate. Better than a pyramid. -------------------------------- Alan Filipski, UNIX group, Motorola Microsystems, Tempe, AZ U.S.A {seismo | ihnp4 } ! ut-sally ! oakhill ! mot ! al -------------------------------- she canna' take much more o' this, captain
space@mit-mc (02/13/85)
From: Rob Austein <SRA@MIT-XX.ARPA> > I think I'll wait until they can give my carcass enough energy to > leave the solar system. You can get that now. All you need is to find a company that'll outfit your cadaver with a light sail. 'Course, you might have a bit of a problem making planetfall at .999c .... -------
rainbow@ihuxe.UUCP (Rob Buchner) (02/18/85)
>Yes, you can be buried in space! Just have someone send your cremated remains >("cremains," as they were called in the news story on NPR this morning)to SSI >(not to be confused with the Princeton-based Space Studies Institute, also >called SSI), and they will further reduce them to fit into a capsule >approximately 1" by 1-1/4" which will be inscribed with your name, social >security number, and (optional) religious symbol of your choice. Then a >capsule containing several thousand of these will be placed into low earth >orbit (through the Van Allen Belt, which has very little satellite traffic). >>Compact little shapes? (like what the Kelvans did to the crew of the >>Enterprise) Low Earth orbit? What a drag. I think I'll wait until >>they can give my carcass enough energy to leave the solar system. I am happy to inform you that your worries are over. SSI plans to follow-up their first launching immediately with another. This one out of the Solar System. Can they expect you as a customer?
pagiven@drutx.UUCP (GivenP) (02/18/85)
-
Has SSI considered the possibility that they could be starting our
first inter-stellar war? I, for one, would consider it a very hos-
tile act if someone were to fire little ash-filled titanium cap-
sules at me. Such bullets propelled by light-sails, as at least
one netter proposed, could reach their victims at .999c given
enough time. Even if launched only with enough velocity to escape
the solar system, those little bullets would pack quite a wallop
when impacting a target at some great differential speed. An
angry, intelligent civilization so threatened could easily calcu-
late the trajectories and figure out where they came from.
ZAP! we're history!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Paul Given {ihnp4, houxe, stcvax!ihnp4}!drutx!pagiven
AT&T Information Systems Laboratories
11900 N. Pecos, Rm 1B04, Denver 80234 (303)-538-4058
-----------------------------------------------------------------chuck@dartvax.UUCP (Chuck Simmons) (02/23/85)
> Has SSI considered the possibility that they could be starting our > first inter-stellar war? I, for one, would consider it a very hos- > tile act if someone were to fire little ash-filled titanium cap- > sules at me. Such bullets propelled by light-sails, as at least > one netter proposed, could reach their victims at .999c given > enough time. Even if launched only with enough velocity to escape > the solar system, those little bullets would pack quite a wallop > when impacting a target at some great differential speed. An > angry, intelligent civilization so threatened could easily calcu- > late the trajectories and figure out where they came from. > > ZAP! we're history! > > Paul Given {ihnp4, houxe, stcvax!ihnp4}!drutx!pagiven I assume this is humor? My physics isn't very good, but... It seems to me that if one of these "bullets" encountered an atmosphere, it would burn up creating a rather beautiful meteorite (?). Also, it seems that a civilization which had communities living outside the protection of an atmosphere would have devised some other form of protection against the occasional small but quickly moving object. Finally, it seems to me that civilizations would tend to be clustered around stars. Could a light-sail powered bullet get near another star at such a high speed? chuck%d1@dartvax
maurice@nmtvax.UUCP (02/24/85)
>Has SSI considered the possibility that they could be starting our >first inter-stellar war? I, for one, would consider it a very hos- >tile act if someone were to fire little ash-filled titanium cap- >sules at me. Such bullets propelled by light-sails, as at least >one netter proposed, could reach their victims at .999c given >enough time. Even if launched only with enough velocity to escape >the solar system, those little bullets would pack quite a wallop >when impacting a target at some great differential speed. An >angry, intelligent civilization so threatened could easily calcu- >late the trajectories and figure out where they came from. >ZAP! we're history! By the time it wastes someone/something and they send something back, provided that they can send something back we WILL be history. In thinking though, could that great siberian explosion (1908?) be someone elses ash-filled titanium capsule hitting us first? roger