Ashes to space service in China

Soon, people in China can send the ashes of their loved ones to space. The US firm Space Services which delivers cremated human remains to space, is hoping to offer its services to the Chinese market. From USATODAY:

"With the growth and success of the Chinese space program, people here will be more space-aware and will find space to be an appropriate venue for memorial services," said Charles Chafer, chief executive officer of Houston, Texas-based Space Services Inc.

Chafer said his company is discussing an arrangement with Beijing Great Wall Chinese Shrine, a funeral home and columbarium in the Chinese capital.

... Chafer said he hoped to arrange a distributorship with the Beijing funeral home but couldn't say when that might happen.

Sun Yi, the vice general manager of Great Wall Shrine, said two people in Beijing have expressed interest in the service but declined to give details.

Space Services ships either 1 or 7 grams (0.04 or 0.28 ounces) of a person's cremated remains — less than 1% of the remains of the average cremation.

They travel in lipstick-size containers aboard commercial rockets carrying other cargo.