Texas-based Celestis Inc.,<\/a> which is scheduled to launch around 5:30 p.m. Sunday from Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara, CA.<\/p>\nFranz was like a sibling to Elizabeth Moore before he died at age 13 in October 2020. Celestis, Inc<\/p>\n
Carrying a total of 166 titanium and aluminum capsules, each about a quarter to a half-inch in size and filled with DNA or cremated remains, the 23-foot-tall SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will take two trips around Earth\u2019s low orbit at a mind-boggling 17,000 mph.<\/p>\n
The space flight will last about three hours before the rocket \u2014 still carrying its priceless payload \u2014 re-enters the atmosphere and lands in the Pacific Ocean somewhere between Alaska and Hawaii, according to Celestis CEO and co-founder Charles Chafer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A recovery ship, which was already out at sea Friday in anticipation of the launch, \u201cwill track the incoming rocket, hopefully get a visual on it, and then go pick it up out of the ocean,\u201d Chafer explained.<\/p>\n
The capsules will first be transported to Germany, then, within two months, distributed back to the families, who each paid a whopping $3,500 to send their loved one to the stars.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While the price to send Franz on the voyage was \u201ca lot more\u201d than the pooch itself, his owner, Harvin Moore, said with a laugh, it was only fitting for the \u201cspace-fanatic\u201d Moore family to send the pup beyond the stratosphere.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was the best dog, just so soft and nice and loved hugs,\u201d recalled Moore, 60, who lives in Dripping Springs, Texas, just outside Austin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Moore family can\u2019t wait to watch their beloved pooch go galactic. Celestis, Inc<\/p>\n
Franz, who was 13 when he died in October 2020, was more like a sibling than a pet to Moore\u2019s now 26-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, and son, Quinn, 21, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now, the family can\u2019t wait to watch the good boy go galactic.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe emotional power of being with a group of people who are celebrating the life of a loved one in this way \u2026 it\u2019s amazing. It\u2019s nothing we\u2019ll ever forget,\u201d said Moore. \u201cIt\u2019s just pure joy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Texas-based company Celestis Inc.\u2019s inaugural Perseverance Flight will take two trips around Earth\u2019s Lower Orbit after blastoff on Sunday. <\/p>\n
The Perseverance Flight will carry a total of 166 titanium and aluminum capsules, ranging in size from a quarter to a half-inch, filled with DNA or cremated remains. Celestis, Inc<\/p>\n
\u201cMany people whose ashes and DNA are flying are people that always wanted to go to space in their lifetime but were never able to do that. It also helps families move from feelings of grief to joy,\u201d Chafer said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The cremated remains of Wesley Dreyer \u2014 an aerospace engineer who helped investigate the cause of the Space Shuttle Challenger\u2019s shocking explosion after takeoff on Jan. 28, 1986 \u2014 will also be on board the Perseverance Flight, as well as DNA from a living, 3-year-old German boy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bone voyage! A beloved dog named Franz will take his final leap this weekend \u2014 into Earth\u2019s orbit.\u00a0…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":205015,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3844],"tags":[557,3908,690,45799,70,413,1603,16,15,727],"class_list":{"0":"post-205014","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-dna","10":"tag-dogs","11":"tag-rockets","12":"tag-science","13":"tag-space","14":"tag-spacex","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-us-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114726839439489341","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205014"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205014\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/205015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}