His remains were on the rocket
May 24, 2012 (Thursday)
One of the original cast members of Star Trek now orbits the earth. At least one gram of his ashes orbits the earth. A private company offers this service to all of us if we wish, for $2,995. One gram is 1/4 teaspoon of human remains. I suppose there is a reason for wanting to do that, but it escapes me just now.
The use of space vehicles for such a purpose is the business of a separate company from the one that engineered the recent launch of an unmanned flight to the space station. The ashes were packed away in the second stage of the rocket, which made it into orbit.
The main company, SpaceX, is on a quest to make space flight available to ordinary people (with a lot of money). The time will come, they say, when booking a trip on a rocket into space will be more or less commonplace. The CEO of SpaceX said he did not know about the launch of “Scotty” into space on his rocket. Seems strange.
The involvement of private enterprise in space projects has been criticized by some as a form of greed. The critics are saying that anything involving profit is inherently evil. The question I would like to ask the critics is, “Have you not read anything about how such things as the telegraph, the telephone, the television, electric energy, etc came into being?” People got their own financing, took risks, and, if successful with their research and inventions, made money. What’s wrong with that?
The Bible teaches that the dead shall be raised when Jesus returns, and we shall join them in being caught up to meet the Lord in the air. “So shall we ever be with the Lord.” It’s a one-way trip. But, if you have an extra $2,995 lying around to send one gram of yourself into orbit, just remember, “What goes up must come down.” Save your money. Take Jesus’ offer instead.