The Departed Take Flight In Space

Sunday Morning correspondent Bill Geist examines some unorthodox ways to say farewell to the dearly departed.

Joining him for the ride was James Doohan, known to Earthlings as Scotty of "Star Trek," making his first space flight since the TV series and movies ended.

The celebrities got all the coverage, but they were joined in their spacecraft by 200 others, from all walks of life, and death.

"We pause to honor all aboard," an announcer said before launching the dead into space. "Godspeed, good luck."

Small, symbolic portions of their ashes blasted into space by loved ones who knew they would have wanted it this way — preferring 73 miles up to six feet under. Noel Brazil's husband was onboard.

"It was the perfect thing for him," she said. "I mean, he was just a huge space fanatic. He loved everything space and it was the perfect thing."

Like so many others these days, they chose an alternative form of interment.

"Well, I think it's fascinating that baby boomers have gone through life-changing things, and now we're changing the way we view death," said Michelle Cromer who wrote a book on the choices that are available to today's bereaved. "It's no longer just 'lay down and get buried.'"

She said that more choices have been made possible by the skyrocketing trend to cremation.

"In 2025, half of us in the U.S. will actually be cremated," she said. "There's just not room anymore. We're a transient society. We don't go back to our graveyards."

Companies like Aerial Missions in Seattle will scatter your poor old Uncle Harry's ashes just about anywhere.

But they don't have to stay as ashes. Lifegem in Chicago will compress your dearly departed into diamonds. Dean Vandenbiesen helped found the company.

"The remains are placed in a special crucible," he said while he showed off his work. "For people that do choose this, the whole idea is keeping a loved one close."

That's what led Angela Ravasz to have her husband's ashes made into diamonds.

"Any time I travel I wear my jewelry and just feel like he's always with me," she said.

She chose two blue diamonds, but they can be made into almost any color or cut.

Other options abound: You can blend Grandpa into a goblet or soup bowl; turn Grandma into a piece of jewelry; or make her part of an ocean reef, or a fireworks display.

"You could [put] ashes into your fishing rod, or your golf club or a duck decoy or a bowling ball," Cromer said. "I don't think it's nutty at all. I want to go into my husband's driver so he can still blame me when he shanks it."

Or you could put an ounce here and an ounce there — as Susie Van Warmer is doing with the ashes of her husband, Randy.

"I went all over the world with his ashes," she said. "Our favorite places. We travel a lot and I'd leave his ashes."

Randy wrote and sang songs about outer space, but he never got there — until now. This is what brought Susie and the other families to the New Mexico desert — to join the ride with Gordon Cooper and Scotty. Also there was Charles Chafer, the CEO of Celestis, which has a history of doing this sort of thing.

"We've got 100 people orbiting the Earth right now, which I like to say is more than any country has," he said. We started out about ten years ago with our first memorial space flight launching 22 folks, including Gene Roddenberry, the "Star Trek" creator, and Timothy Leary, the '60s icon into Earth orbit. This is our sixth flight. We did one to the Moon in 1999: We made Gene Shoemaker, the famous NASA scientist, the first man buried on the Moon."

Hundreds of relatives and friends from ten nations gathered at the New Mexico Museum of Space History for a memorial service the day before the launch.

Larry Mathews, who's interring his father's remains in space, says he someday wants the same thing done for him.

"It's an opportunity to go up without all the training," he said.

James de Carufel is sending up some of his father's ashes but holding some in reserve for a future flight to the moon with his mother's remains.

"We can look and see them on the moon instead of the man on the moon, see Mom and Dad on the Moon," he said.

Celestis offers a variety of space burial packages starting at $495. Noel Brazil is already looking ahead to future missions.

"You had the option to do an orbit or a lunar thing or deep space," Brazil said. "We decided deep space was the way to go. So do you know what it's gonna cost you? Roughly probably $12,000."

Launch day arrives. Early. The mournful — or maybe they're just tired — gather for a 5 a.m. pre-flight briefing held at a local school. It was a go.

The funeral procession heads for the launch site, the last 27 miles on a bumpy dirt road, finally arriving at the grandiloquently-named Spaceport America, which (so far) is a couple of trailers, a small launch pad, and today a tent.

There were a couple of tense moments. The last attempt to launch remains into space failed. There were no survivors. But then there weren't any at today's launch, either.

It was an extraordinary scene this day: Part Kennedy Space Center, part memorial service, part celebration — with cheering at the funeral.

But one thing seemed clear: No matter how you choose to say goodbye, there will be tears.

"He's finally up there, he finally got his trip," Van Warmer said. "I wish he had known."