Back in 2008, Space.com covered Celestis's plan to expand their shoot-your-remains-into-space program to include sending a vial of your ashes to the Moon. The article says that the service will be available in 09, but Celestis's website currently says that the it won't "launch" until 2011.
A small portion — 1 gram — of the encapsulated cremated remains of one person can be sent to the moon for $9,995. The price includes the option of watching the launch, an inscription of the deceased's name on an accompanying plaque, and complimentary scattering of the remainder of the remains at sea near the launch site.
For $29,985, Celestis will launch 14 grams total of the cremated remains of two people together…
Future customers won't be the first people to have their remains spread on the moon. In 1998, Celestis, at the request of NASA, provided a Luna Flight Capsule to the family and friends of the late legendary astronomer and planetary geologist Eugene Shoemaker. The Celestis Flight Capsule, containing a symbolic portion of Shoemaker's cremated remains, was attached to NASA's Lunar Prospector spacecraft and launched on a one-year mission orbiting the moon.
On July 31, 1999, at the completion of Lunar Prospector's mission, the spacecraft was intentionally crashed into the moon's south pole, making Shoemaker the first human to be laid to rest on another celestial body. NASA called the memorial "a special honor for a special human being."
Celestis Memorial Spaceflights
(via Monochrom)
