Launched last Monday (23) by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, a capsule containing various human remains suffered a failure and lost its contents in the sea.
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The launch, part of the Transporter-14 mission, carried 70 payloads into space. However, one of them, containing ashes of humans and pets, ended up lost in the ocean due to a technical malfunction.
In its 25th mission, the goal — named Perseverance — was to transport ashes donated by families through the Memorial Spaceflights project by Celestis.
Celestis, a company based in Houston, Texas (USA), offers various types of space memorial services, including launching cremated remains into space.
This service, known as Earth Rise, involves sending DNA samples of deceased loved ones into space and later bringing them back to Earth.
The Nyx capsule belonged to the European company The Exploration Company (TEC), which reported that the mission was “partially” successful.
“The capsule was successfully launched, deployed the payloads nominally into orbit, stabilized after separation from the launcher, reentered and reestablished communication after blackout,” the company said in a statement.
“But it encountered a problem afterward, based on our current best knowledge, and we lost communication a few minutes before landing.”
“We apologize to all our customers who entrusted us with their payloads. We thank our teams for their hard work and commitment to success,” the company also stated.
“We’ve been pushing boundaries in record time and cost. This partial success reflects both ambition and the inherent risks of innovation.”
Celestis also issued a statement explaining that the Nyx capsule’s parachute failed to deploy, resulting “in the capsule impacting the Pacific Ocean and dispersing its contents into the sea.”
Photo and video: The Exploration Company. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
