IMMORTALITY, SEARCH FOR

The April 1985 issue of Eternity magazine contained the following news item. It is not known if these plans were or will be accomplished, but they do illustrate that men cannot bear the thought of being dead and forgotten:

The quest for pseudoimmortality took a giant leap forward with the announcement that you can send your remains “to the heavens” when you die. The Celestis Group of Melbourne, Florida, has received federal approval for a privately financed launch of a rocket in early 1987, with a nose cone containing the ashes of 10,330 paying customers. Each person’s ashes will be chemically treated to fit inside a 2-by-5/8-inch titanium capsule. The nose cone will enter an orbit at about 1,900 miles up, and, thanks to a reflective surface, “it will be visible to earth-bound loved ones.” The Celestis group isn’t promising an eternal rest, though. The orbit may deteriorate in about 63 million years.710