Families tour the launch pad at Spaceport America the day prior to a Celestis Earth Rise launch.
We invite you to suggest a name for our next mission, which is scheduled for launch on June 21, 2013. The winner of the contest will receive a mission patch that we have flown in space, together with a certificate of authenticity!
This launch will occur from Spaceport America, New Mexico, the site of each of our previous Earth Rise Service missions. We will fly cremated remains into space and return them to Earth: After the mission, the flight capsule or module that carried a loved one into space and back again is returned to the family, with the ashes still sealed inside. We will once again fly on board an UP Aerospace SpaceLoft XL launch vehicle.
If you’re interested in the mission-naming contest, it might help you to consider the names of our previous memorial spaceflights. We called our first mission “The Founders Flight.” Our December 1999 mission was called “The Millennial Flight.” And our last Earth Rise mission — “The Goddard Flight” — was named after the father of American space exploration, Dr. Robert Goddard, who performed much of his pioneering aerospace work in New Mexico.
Consider the venue — Spaceport America. It’s a new launch facility that will serve as the headquarters of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic space tourism company. It’s also located near the White Sands Missile Range, where so much space history has been made.
Be creative! If you have a suggestion, please contact us! The contest deadline is July 4, 2012.
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UPDATE (July 12): Aleta Duvall has won the contest! The name of our next Earth Rise mission is The Centennial Flight, named in honor of the 100th anniversary of New Mexico’s statehood. For her winning entry, Aleta will receive a Centennial Flight mission patch that will be flown on the mission. Congratulations Aleta! (And thanks to everyone who suggested names for the mission!)
Celestis memorial spaceflights provide meaningful ways for families and friends to honor the memory of a loved one. Whether they attend our launch-related activities in person or watch via webcast, families find the Celestis experience to be emotionally moving and fulfilling.
Below are just some of the comments made by family members of those on board The New Frontier Flight, launched into Earth orbit on May 22, 2012 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Those who traveled to Florida to view the launch in person also had the opportunity to view the rocket on its launch pad from the vantage point of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, and participate in our memorial service for those on board the flight.
Attendees at the Celestis New Frontier Flight Memorial Service. Photos of each person on board the flight, together with their names and personal flight messages, were displayed on the screen at left.
Dear Christiana,
Now we have come to an end. Mark’s ashes are orbiting and 5 years have passed since we started this journey together.
I remember first talking with you, getting information about the process of sending ashes into space. You were so understanding and compassionate as I vented and cried and told the story of how I came to be doing this. You grieved along with me.
Astronaut Jon McBride speaking at the memorial service
There are no words to express fully how much I appreciated you during those early days. You became a trusted friend and helped me navigate through some tough decisions. You may not know that you did these things, but during our conversations I gained some measure of strength and found that I could get through all manner of difficult days.
Christiana, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. For extending your friendship to me, for keeping me in the Celestis loop of information, for caring enough to search and actually find me after I had re-married and changed my name and address. I can’t believe you did that!
You are an amazing asset to Celestis and a friend to all the family members you come in contact with every day. I wish you Love & Blessings always
Johanna Wallace Mitchell (Joey)
P.S. I still think we should meet someday.
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Family members share their thoughts at the memorial service
Bravo to you all this is the very best of news that my loved one has now accomplished the dream to go into space. For me it came at the anniversary of when my wife left this world six years ago almost to the day (May 21, 2006), making it extremely special. This is a next step for all to help move forward in space travel for mankind! Will be waiting for more news about the orbit and be able to track their orbit and go out in the night and look up and say there they go overhead.
Thanks again.
John Seaton
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This has been soooooooo much fun! I’m so glad my father was able to be a part of this historic mission.
Gina Whitt
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At the end of the memorial service, families and friends walked to a nearby river where they laid flowers in memory of their loved ones.
I cannot express how thrilled my family is about the launch. It is truly a wonderful day. We watched from our homes but we celebrated with the entire Celestis and New Frontier family. Thank you, a million times over, for this opportunity. This was the only idea about which Dad showed any enthusiasm as we talked with him about his memorial service – and oh, the enthusiasm he had for this.
Katharine Stewart
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Families viewed the nighttime launch in person or by webcast. Image Credit: NASA
We, at Celestis, thank all of the families and friends who have written us! We will never forget joining many of you in the pre-dawn darkness of May 22 to watch the spectacular launch from Jetty Park, located just 10.3 miles from the launch pad. As the rocket lifted its precious cargo of New Frontier Flight participants into the night sky, the spirits of all of us at Jetty Park lifted as well. The brilliant light of the rocket’s powerful engines resembled the light of a very bright star rising ever so gracefully into the stars above. The crowd reacted with a joyful mix of applause, cheers, handshakes, hugs, and tears: Their loved ones’ dreams of spaceflight had come true. Those of you who joined us virtually, via the launch webcast, were also with us in spirit.
Click here to read more about the New Frontier Flight, view video of the launch, read about the people on board, and track the satellite as it orbits Earth.
Click here to view a touching television interview with one of The New Frontier Flight families.
Celestis was recently given a gift in the form of music. Susan VanWarmer, wife of participant Randy VanWarmer, sent a newly released compilation album of her husband’s work in thanks and support of our mission. The album is called “Just When I Needed You Most,” also a hit single song in 1979, and contains nine never released recordings of songs found on rehearsal tapes in his studio.
Randy VanWarmer
Randy always carried the dream of becoming an astronaut. It shows in his songwriting with the song called “I’m Gonna Build Me a Rocket.” It also shows on the cover of his Terraform album; he’s wearing an Apollo 11 suit. Susan was able to fulfill his dream of crossing over into space and Randy was a participant on both the Explorers and Legacy flights and is also a participant on the upcoming New Frontier Flight.
Every quote in the liner notes, every description of friendship, described what a warm, thoughtful person Randy was, that he was a best friend to all. “Randy had a way of looking right into your eyes, that made you feel important,” said his friend Roger Earl.
The first song, #1 hit “I’m In A Hurry (And I Don’t Know Why)” will have your toes tapping the moment it starts playing. “Time and Money” stands out as well, with its rich, sassy saxophone lines and backup vocals. It’s reminiscent of The Commitments, the band from the movie of the same name. “There’s A Rhythm” also features some wonderful harmonies but with a more free-flowing feel that puts the listener in mind of Creedence Clearwater Revival.
What most striking about this album is its overall versatility. Some songs have a more country or folk feel, like John Denver, while some have that electronic, poppy feel not uncommon in the 80s. Randy’s voice comes through clearly and beautifully in every style. His style never sounds like imitation, but an honest and true representation of his talents.
You can read his full bio here and visit his website here. We’d like to say “thank you” to Susan vanWarmer for sending this album to us and sharing the music of Randy VanWarmer.
The theme this year is a variation on “the way that is the way is not always the way,” the opening line of Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching. “Design is design is not design” asks people to look at design with a new vision, to ask where design can be applied to modern inventions. Where do creativity and vision overlap? When is design used to create bias or exclusion? “Its emphasis is laid on understanding the trends of domestic and international design and cultural phenomena and expanding publicity.”1 With this in mind all of the design fields represented are not be separated from each other and labeled but rather merged into a larger aesthetic display.
Celestis has Brendan McGetrick to thank for being present at this exceptional event. Mr. McGetrick is a curator for the UnNamed themed section which explores “the ways in which design alters perceptions, reinvents, and reveals hidden truths.”2 Fields of focus include virtual communication, bioengineering, permaculture and more. Celestis has been incorporated into an afterlife design section and our service video plays on a large screen.
Celestis certainly does alter perceptions and expectations about a funeral. The memorial spaceflight service for cremated remains has been called everything from fantastic, amazing, fulfilling, to creepy and strange. However you might choose to view the service, our goal here is to fulfill a dream, a desire, to provide for both the participant and the family. In the greater funeral world industry, it’s still a young service and we are honored to be a part of such a large honoring of design.
Celestis has had three successful orbital flights. Two of these flights were launched from Vandenburg Air Force Base in California and are still in Earth orbit today. Even better, they can both be tracked from your iPhone.
An application called Starwalk, from Vito Technology, makes this possible. It’s a visual pleasure of an application bringing you not just rich graphics but explanations of what you’re seeing. Simply download the application to your iPhone or iPad and point your device at the sky. The app will show you just what’s up there and it’s smart enough to know not only where you are but which way you are facing.
You can also search for various objects, like the satellites that contain our orbital funerals.
Launch of The Ad Astra Flight, Feb. 10, 1998, Vandenberg Air Force Base, California
Our first successful orbital mission was The Founders Flight, which launched in 1997 and re-entered Earth’s atmosphere May 20, 2002 northeast of Australia. Our second orbital mission,The Ad Astra Flight, was launched in 1998 and is Celestis25160 in the Starwalk app. The third flight was The Millennial Flight in 1999 and can be found under Celestis26034. Maybe you’ll be able to step outside one night and see if you can’t see the satellite passing overhead either with the naked or or by pointing the Starwalk app in that direction.
The next orbital launch, The New Frontier Flight, is also going to carry ashes into orbit. The number for tracking that flight will be made available as soon as possible after the launch.
For those who use Androids, there’s the Google Sky Map application, though tracking satellites is not yet a feature.
You can also track our Earth-orbiting spacecraft via our website.
For funerals, Gracefully proposes a service or celebration that reflects the image of the deceased and to make the occasion touching and unique. Many of Mr. Therond’s clients who come to him for funeral services are looking to plan their own funeral. These people seek to plan something that truly expresses who they are and what their life is about. Those planning for others are often trying to ensure that there’s a sense of dignity to the proceedings.
It’s an overall ideal that’s well and succinctly explained on Gracefully’s wedding page. “It is the celebration that must adapt itself to the couple and not the inverse.” The idea being that celebrations shouldn’t come with a one-size-fits-all mentality but that you have options and are encouraged to explore those options to make the ceremony right for you.
Mr. Therond’s speech was well received by the French audience and we thank him for including us in his speech about the changing funeral industry environment.
From October 4-10 people all around the world will come together to celebrate World Space Week, the largest space event here on Earth. The theme this year honors Yuri Gagarin who became the first man in space on April 12, 1961. Only 3 countries and one company have successfully achieve manned spaceflight though several others are developing the technology.
Newspaper headline announcing Yuri Gagarin's historic flight into space on April 12, 1961. CREDIT: NASA
The first World Space Week was declared in 1999 by the United Nations General Assembly “[t]o celebrate each year at the international level the contributions of space science and technology to the betterment of the human condition.” The guiding forces behind the event are the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) and the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (OOSA). Other major affiliates include Turksat, SpaceX, the Secure World Foundation and SpaceIsle.com.
World Space Week is an event designed for everyone, from government agencies to individuals, everyone is invited to host an event celebrating some of the amazing contributions spaceflight has brought humans. The goals of these events are to inspire a new generation to continue pushing foward, to bring the many space oriented programs and companies to the spotlight and to create an international community of people.
Higlights from 2010 included a Water Rocket firing competition for school students in Karachi, Pakistan and a regional rocket launch launch in Alabama called Rocktober skies. On the calendar for this year is Tea with the Stars in Brazil and an Energy Systems Technology & Education Center (ESTEC) open house in the Netherlands. There are also plenty of film showings, seminars, classes and viewings on the calendar.
For ideas and materials to help you get started and spread the word visit WorldSpaceWeek.org. You don’t have to do something huge to participate. You can attend a talk, host a showing of your favorite space film, or donate to a space-related cause. They even provide free downloads of this year’s and all previous years’ poster to help you get the word out. Teachers take note, there’s a special guide just for you to plan some space-related lessons.
We encourage you to participate in this exciting week, no matter where you might live.
This year we celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Naval Aviation, and honor the aviators and support personnel who have served in the Navy, the Marine Corps and the Coast Guard. In fact, Celestis would simply like to say ‘thank you’ to all the men and women who have served in any of the military branches around the world.
The rigorous and exacting training it takes to serve in naval aviation has paved a direct road into other aerospace careers. In fact, the first seven astronauts, known as both the “Original Seven” and “Astronaut Group 1,” were all test pilots in the military before they earned a place with NASA. Several of the participants aboard The New Frontier Flight made their way through the military into a lifetime career in aerospace.
Astronaut L. Gordon Cooper
One of these Original Seven will be entering into Earth’s orbit one last time. L. Gordon Cooper, who became the first man to sleep in space while he orbited the earth 22 times on NASA’s Mercury 9 flight, will be on our New Frontier Flight. He started out in the Marine Corps before working in other branches of the armed forces.
William Reuel Barnett, Jr. joined the Navy after graduating high school. After his time with them he continued his education and earned a degree in mechanical engineering. “The Quiet Man of Rocket Engines” would work on such projects as the top secret B-58 Hustler Project and the “Pluto Project.” Never once did an engine of his design and installed under his direction fail during takeoff.
Another mechanical engineer, Albert (Bert) Fabre, was first an apprentice moulder in the Royal Naval Dockyard. Astronomy was one of his hobbies and cold nights didn’t deter him from aiming his telescope skywards.
William Paul Peterson
For others, a simple love of space and flight kept on after serving. William Paul Peterson served in the Air Force. Science fiction and the idea of time travel fascinated him; this memorial spaceflight will be his third memorial service.
We look forward to our next space mission, The New Frontier Flight, as a way to honor these veterans and many others. We invite you to read the stories of our New Frontier Flight participants. For more information about events nationwide for the 100th Anniversary of Naval Aviation visit www.navalaviation100.org.
Finally, we also express our thanks in a very tangible way by extending a 10% discount off of our various memorial spaceflight services to veterans of all nations and branches of service.
An exhibit in the Tulsa Air and Space Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma honors those who have journeyed into the sky. From the very beginnings of flight and wooden aircraft to the sophisticated metal crafts of the space age those who have reached the sky are honored.
Gregory Brown
One part of the exhibit is of especial mention. This particular installation debuted on July 2, 2008 and is dedicated to the life and dreams of a young boy named Gregory Brown, the first Oklahoman in space. Born December 31, 1984 his mother described him as a smiley and silly baby. As he grew up to be a boy who loved anything to do with science fiction, NASA, space, the shuttle program, Star Wars… all of it. Legos were one of his favorite tools to build the models of the rockets and planes he so admired.
When he was just 14, Greg died of complications from his leukemia treatments. His mother, September Brown, knew that a Celestis space burial was the right choice for her son. Greg is now orbiting earth on board The Millennial Flight which was successfully launched on December 20, 1999.
Nine years later the exhibit in Tulsa would open. The display highlights his love of space, his fight with leukemia and the tributes he was paid after his death. Fitting for one who loved space, the display is full of artifacts from those who helped his dream become a reality.
Millennial Flight family members pose by the launch vehicle.
There’s a letter from his bone marrow donor, a member of the US Navy, officially stating that part of his remains had been buried at sea. His mother had contacted the donor, asking him to quietly disperse a portion of the ashes into the ocean. He went further and Greg was honored not just in private but with full honors, the crew turned out in their dress blues.
A letter and patch from the Navy commemorate his status as an honorary VR-1 Squadron Star Lifter member, a squad that had been entrusted with the transport of Congressman C.W. Bill Young.
There’s a letter from that same Congressman Young. He and his wife Beverly personally carried his donor marrow to Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City, touched by the Brown family’s struggle.
The display also contains some of Greg’s own model rockets that he didn’t just build but flew as well. There’s a teddy bear signed by his family, given to him for his bone marrow transplant. Several baseball caps adorn the display, two of them signed by astronauts and another by a tennis champion who is also dedicated to fighting cancer in children.
The balance of the display chronicles the launch of Greg’s cremated remains by Celestis. The process started with transfer of the cremated remains to the flight module, 90 days before the launch, and the integration of the Celestis craft onto the rocket. It was an Orbital Sciences Corporation Taurus rocket that took Greg to space. The Taurus team themselves honored the Brown family by choosing to sign the rocket “Greg Brown / To Infinity And Beyond,” under the Celestis logo.
And, aptly placed, the picture of Greg holding one of his model airplanes is right next to a picture of The Millennial Flight during takeoff in all its blaze of glory.
You can read more about Greg on the Celestis Web site and you can track The Millennial Flight’s orbit in real time here.
Below are words from family members of Celestis Memorial Spaceflight participants, discussing their loved ones or expressing their feelings about our service. We will post more testimonials in the future.
Majel Roddenberry
“This may be your final frontier. It’s a symbolic gesture, but it’s a celebration, more than anything. You ask yourself ‘What did a person love the most?’ If there is a spirit hanging around, where would he be the happiest? I know where Gene’s would be the happiest.” – Majel Barrett Roddenberry, quoted in “For 24 Dearly Departed, a Rocket Trip Around the World,” by Frank Arthens. Note that Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry was a participant on board Celestis’ first memorial spaceflight, The Founders Flight. Both Gene and Majel will fly on our next Voyager deep space mission.
James McEachern
“Not long before he passed away he did admit the only dream that did not come true was to make it into space. I told him that somehow and someday I would try to make his last wish and dream come true. Thankfully I discovered Celestis and with their help JD’s dream will come true.” — The son of James McEachern, quoted from his father’s biography.
Alfred Floyd Turner
“We were able to fulfill our brother’s wish. It was like our last gift to him… For the last 30 seconds of the countdown, I was shaking. We were just so excited we brought him to that moment. It was so worth it” – Crystal Warren, sister of Alfred Turner, quoted in “Family comforted as ashes mingle with stars,” an article in The News-Leader (Springfield, Missouri). Alfred Turner was a participant on board The Legacy Flight, an Earth Rise Service mission, and will be on board our upcoming New Frontier Flight, an Earth Orbit Service mission.
