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"A new San Francisco company, Elysium, caters to clients that want to pay tribute to loved ones by sending their ashes to outer space.Visit Elysium's websiteInterest in sending cremated remains to the final frontier began with the launch of the space shuttle Columbia in October 1992.STS-52 was a unique mission, partially because of the payload on board. Carried alongside the other cargo on Columbia were the ashes of Gene Roddenberry, creator of the \"Star Trek\" TV series. The shuttle took some of Roddenberry\u2019s ashes into space as a tribute to the late sci-fi writer and producer.Sending ashes into outer space was too expensive for most families, until Elysium was founded.\"It was more than I expected,\" said Venita Kent-Basham, of Woodland. She was looking at ways to pay tribute to her late husband Craig, a lifelong science fiction fan.\"He loved the original 'Star Trek,'\" said Venita, who added \"Stargate\" and the short-lived Joss Whedon program \"Firefly\" were also among her husband\u2019s favorite shows.In fact, it was \"Firefly\" and its fan base that inspired Craig and Venita to take a trip to Comic-Con in San Diego. While there, they met many of their sci-fi heroes.\"We got to meet Nathan Fillion, who was Captain Malcolm Reynolds, ,\" Venita said. \"So, that was exciting.\"But in May 2013, Craig was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He died during a surgical procedure to remove the tumor.\"It was very sudden,\" Venita said. \"It was less than two weeks from his diagnosis to his passing.\"Since then, Venita and her sons have tried to find ways to honor Craig. They ultimately decided to place some of his ashes in places he loved and places he never got the chance to visit. Outer space seemed out of the question until Venita discovered Elysium.\"We are really targeting normal people,\" said Elysium\u2019s founder, Thomas Civeit. \"We think space should be open to everyone and price is a big part of it.\"It\u2019s a philosophy his director of flight operations, Brett Stroozas, echoed.\"There's a real meaning behind this -- there can be a real meaning behind this,\" Stroozas said.All of this, said the two former NASA contractors, is an effort to make space more personal for everyone. Both men have worked on multiple shuttle experiments as well as the Hubble Space Telescope.\"It's very important to us to make a very meaningful experience that is not about the spacecraft orbiting the Earth,\" Civeit said. \"It is using the beauty of the sky as a beautiful landscape that people can use for this memorial service.\"Clients can place a small amount of their loved one\u2019s ashes into a small cube that is then placed into a larger cube, a satellite, called a CubeSat. The satellite is then launched via rocket into Earth\u2019s orbit.\"It orbits the Earth for several months,\" Civeit said. \"Because of the atmospheric drag, it slowly enters the atmosphere and eventually burns up, blazing as a shooting star.\"Once in orbit, loved ones will be able to use an app on their smartphone or tablet to track the location of the satellite in real time.\"It seemed like this company was making it more personal,\" Venita said of Elysium\u2019s service. \"I thought it would just be so cool. It's like Craig is on a mission to space.\"Added Elysium\u2019s founder: \"It's all about making a memory, having emotions and creating an experience.\"Elysium\u2019s first launch is scheduled for spring. The exact date will depend on weather conditions.\u00A0"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.kcra.com/article/sf-company-offers-the-final-frontier-as-a-final-resting-place/6411313>