flying human ashes to the Moon won’t delay launch
A commercial lunar lander that is prepared for flight on Monday is carrying more than just science
instruments. The Navajo Nation is not happy about two businesses that specialise in "space burials"
and cremated human remains being sent to the moon.
President of the Navajo Nation Buu Nygren claims that placing human remains on the lunar surface
is desecration since the Navajo people, one of the country's major indigenous groups, consider the
moon to be sacred.
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"The sacredness of the Moon is deeply embedded in the spirituality and heritage of many
Indigenous cultures, including our own," Nygren stated in a press release. "The placement of
human remains on the Moon is a profound desecration of this celestial body revered by our
people."
Nygren requested a delay in the Moon trip in a letter sent to NASA and the Department of
Transportation, which oversees commercial space launches, last month. The robotic Peregrine
lander, owned and operated by Astrobotic, a Pittsburgh-based business, is equipped with the
human remains in question and is ready to launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in
Florida atop a Vulcan rocket from United Launch Alliance.
This is the second time that human remains have been sent to the Moon by a US spacecraft. NASA's
Lunar Prospector mission launched in 1998 carrying a tiny capsule containing planetary geology
pioneer Eugene Shoemaker's ashes. In 1999, NASA deliberately crashed the spacecraft into the
Moon, resulting in Shoemaker's remains being left there indefinitely.
The Navajo Nation's representatives protested at the time to Shoemaker's ashes being scattered on the
moon. Prior to sending another spacecraft carrying human remains to the Moon, NASA pledged to
confer with tribe representatives. Nygren's current concern was largely attributed to the lack of
discussion on the subject before to this trip.
.. "Rooted in a desire to ensure that our cultural practices, especially those related to the Moon and
the treatment of the deceased, are respected," he continued, the request for consultation.
A mistake
Nygren met with representatives of NASA and the White House on Friday to talk about his worries.
After the meeting, Nygren told reporters he thought it was a mistake that federal representatives
hadn't had a discussion with the Navajo Nation sooner.
He told reporters on Friday, "I think one of the things that they're going to try to work on is being
able to consult into the future." That's encouraging to hear, but Nygren also stated, "we were given
no reassurance that the human remains were not going to be transported to the Moon on Monday."
The launch would be delayed by at least a few weeks if the human remains were removed. To do so,
Astrobotic's lunar lander would have to be removed from the summit of
There is a key distinction between Lunar Prospector and Astrobotic's missions. The Lunar Prospector
spacecraft was owned by the government, but the Peregrine lander is privately owned. NASA and
Astrobotic have a $108 million commercial agreement for NASA to send science payloads to the
Moon. The goal of Astrobotic's mission is the first commercial spacecraft landing attempt by a US
corporation on the Moon.
Although Nygren contends that NASA ought to have some say in decision-making given its status as
Astrobotic's primary customer, the Federal Aviation Administration is the government's only
legitimate body with oversight powers over the mission.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is in charge of making sure that commercial launches,
such as Monday's Vulcan rocket mission, do not endanger public safety. The launch licencing
procedure additionally entails
make sure that the US's international commitments, foreign policy goals, or national security would
not be compromised by a launch.
"For our own missions ... NASA works to be very mindful of potential concerns for any work that
we'll do on the Moon," Kearns stated. "In this particular case ... NASA really doesn't have
involvement or oversight."
A fundamental aspect of NASA's lunar exploration approach involves collaborating with private
enterprises. NASA ultimately hopes to reduce costs to taxpayers by purchasing transportation
services to the Moon with a large number of consumers.
NASA, which is deploying a radiation sensor, spectrometers, and a laser retroreflector array to the
Moon aboard the Peregrine lander, is the primary customer that Astrobotic sold capacity on their
lander to. Launched in 2018, NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) programme aims
to purchase flights to the Moon for scientific and technology demonstration missions. This is the
program's maiden launch.
According to NASA's CLPS programme manager Chris Culbert, "these are truly commercial
missions." "It is their responsibility to sell what they can. However, we undoubtedly have a lot of
conversations around how the payloads work together in the process of ensuring that our payloads'
needs are being satisfied."
The mission also comprises five tiny robots from the Mexican Space Agency that will descend onto
the lunar surface, each weighing less than a tenth of a pound, and a small lunar rover created at
Carnegie Mellon University. A number of Astrobotic's clients are sending keepsakes and
commemorative plaques to the Moon.
Then there's Elysium Space and Celestis. These two businesses collected human ashes from families
who paid to have their loved ones' remains sent to the moon for an extended period of time.
Houston-based Celestis claims to have undertaken 20 "memorial spaceflights" since the 1990s. "If
you’ve ever longed to travel in space, or stepped outside on a starry night and felt at home, we invite
you to consider one of the following memorial spaceflight services for yourself or a loved one,"
Celestis said on its website.
The cremated remains or DNA of 66 individuals will be transported to Astrobotic's landing site at
Gruithuisen Domes, the location of an old volcanic eruption on the near side of the Moon, as part of a
mission known by Celestis as Tranquilly Flight. Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, and
science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke are among the passengers aboard Tranquilly Flight.
About the precise cargo that Elysium Space plans to deploy aboard the Peregrine lander, no
information has been made public. Elysium's payload will "deliver a symbolic portion of remains" to
the lunar surface, according to Astrobotic's description.
The Navajo Nation, according to Nygren, is not against space exploration or rocket launches, but he
is worried about the absence of control and regulation over non-NASA commercial payloads.
"As stewards of our culture and traditions, it is our responsibility to voice our grievances when
actions are taken that could desecrate sacred spaces and disregard deeply held cultural beliefs," he
stated.
..
In a response to the concerns raised by the Navajo Nation, Charles Chafer, CEO of Celestis, spoke
with Marcia Smith of SpacePolicyOnline.com. He declared that "nobody owns the Moon" and that
"the conduct of space activities is not subject to any religious test."
"We reject the whole premise that this is somehow desecration," Chafer stated. We treat these
capsules with reverence. They are not dispersed around the lunar surface by us. We disagree with the
letter's description of our service as a whole. It is the complete opposite of defilement. It's a holiday.
.”