Latest news with #PhilipK.Chapman
The Irish Sun
01-07-2025
- Business
- The Irish Sun
Doomed ‘graveyard' space capsule stuffed with ‘remains of 166 dead humans' & cannabis plants ‘lost at sea' after crash
A SPACE capsule carrying the remains of 166 people and a bounty of cannabis plants has been lost at sea following a surprise crash. The Nyx capsule, built by German aerospace startup The Exploration Company , launched on 23 June from atop a SpaceX rocket. Advertisement 2 All of its cargo has been lost at sea Credit: Getty - Contributor But the rideshare mission - where several companies pay for space aboard the capsule for their payloads - has gone awry after going missing. It's not just any payload either - but the ashes and DNA of 166 people who had signed up for a cosmic funerary service with Celestis, a Texas-based memorial spaceflight company. The flight, dubbed "Mission Possible", achieved orbit and a controlled reentry into Earth's atmosphere. However, the capsule's landing parachutes failed to deploy - causing it to crash in the Pacific Ocean on 24 June. Advertisement READ MORE ON SPACE All of its cargo has been lost at sea. This was The Exploration Company's first attempt at sending customer payloads to space, equivalent to roughly 300 kg (660 lbs) of cargo. In a statement on LinkedIn, the company wrote: "The capsule was launched successfully, powered the payloads nominally in-orbit, stabilised itself after separation with the launcher, re-entered and re-established communication after black out. "But it encountered an issue afterwards, based on our current best knowledge, and we lost communication a few minutes before splashdown. Advertisement Most read in Science Breaking "We apologise to all our clients who entrusted us with their payloads." The company said it is still investigating the root causes of the crash as it prepares for its next flight. Mars Rock Samples- The Stories They Could Tell Scientists at Nasa "This partial success reflects both ambition and the inherent risks of innovation," the company wrote. "Leveraging the technical milestones achieved yesterday and the lessons we will extract from our ongoing investigation, we will then prepare to re-fly as soon as possible." Advertisement Space funerary services, offered by companies like Celestis and Aura Flights, involve sending cremated remains into space. These services offer various options, including suborbital flights, orbital flights, and even 2 The Exploration Company said it is still investigating the root causes of the crash as it prepares for its next flight Credit: The Exploration Company/Ansys This is the second time Celestis has lost a payload. Advertisement In 2023, a rocket containing the cremated remains of the late Nasa astronaut Philip K. Chapman exploded over New Mexico. Celestis also released a statement to the families of the people whose remains were lost: "In the coming days, our team will reach out to each family individually to offer support and discuss possible next steps. "Though we currently believe that we cannot return the flight capsules, we hope families will find some peace in knowing their loved ones were part of a historic journey, launched into space, orbited Earth, and are now resting in the vastness of the Pacific, akin to a traditional and honored sea scattering." Alongside the human remains and other payloads, Nyx also carried cannabis plant matter and seeds provided by Martian Grow, an open-source citizen science project. Advertisement The purpose was to study the effects of microgravity on the germination and resilience of plants. The project aims to understand how plant life could adapt on Mars. All you need to know about planets in our solar system Our solar system is made up of nine planets with Earth the third closest to the Sun. But each planet has its own quirks, so find out more about them all... How old is How many moons does What colour is How far away is How big is How many moons does Does How many moons does How big is How hot is the
Scottish Sun
01-07-2025
- Business
- Scottish Sun
Doomed ‘graveyard' space capsule stuffed with ‘remains of 166 dead humans' & cannabis plants ‘lost at sea' after crash
The company said it is still investigating the root causes of the crash as it prepares for its next flight CRASH CROP Doomed 'graveyard' space capsule stuffed with 'remains of 166 dead humans' & cannabis plants 'lost at sea' after crash A SPACE capsule carrying the remains of 166 people and a bounty of cannabis plants has been lost at sea following a surprise crash. The Nyx capsule, built by German aerospace startup The Exploration Company, launched on 23 June from atop a SpaceX rocket. Advertisement 2 All of its cargo has been lost at sea Credit: Getty - Contributor But the rideshare mission - where several companies pay for space aboard the capsule for their payloads - has gone awry after going missing. It's not just any payload either - but the ashes and DNA of 166 people who had signed up for a cosmic funerary service with Celestis, a Texas-based memorial spaceflight company. The flight, dubbed "Mission Possible", achieved orbit and a controlled reentry into Earth's atmosphere. However, the capsule's landing parachutes failed to deploy - causing it to crash in the Pacific Ocean on 24 June. Advertisement All of its cargo has been lost at sea. This was The Exploration Company's first attempt at sending customer payloads to space, equivalent to roughly 300 kg (660 lbs) of cargo. In a statement on LinkedIn, the company wrote: "The capsule was launched successfully, powered the payloads nominally in-orbit, stabilised itself after separation with the launcher, re-entered and re-established communication after black out. "But it encountered an issue afterwards, based on our current best knowledge, and we lost communication a few minutes before splashdown. Advertisement "We apologise to all our clients who entrusted us with their payloads." The company said it is still investigating the root causes of the crash as it prepares for its next flight. Mars Rock Samples- The Stories They Could Tell Scientists at Nasa "This partial success reflects both ambition and the inherent risks of innovation," the company wrote. "Leveraging the technical milestones achieved yesterday and the lessons we will extract from our ongoing investigation, we will then prepare to re-fly as soon as possible." Advertisement Space funerary services, offered by companies like Celestis and Aura Flights, involve sending cremated remains into space. These services offer various options, including suborbital flights, orbital flights, and even grave plots on the Moon. 2 The Exploration Company said it is still investigating the root causes of the crash as it prepares for its next flight Credit: The Exploration Company/Ansys This is the second time Celestis has lost a payload. Advertisement In 2023, a rocket containing the cremated remains of the late Nasa astronaut Philip K. Chapman exploded over New Mexico. Celestis also released a statement to the families of the people whose remains were lost: "In the coming days, our team will reach out to each family individually to offer support and discuss possible next steps. "Though we currently believe that we cannot return the flight capsules, we hope families will find some peace in knowing their loved ones were part of a historic journey, launched into space, orbited Earth, and are now resting in the vastness of the Pacific, akin to a traditional and honored sea scattering." Alongside the human remains and other payloads, Nyx also carried cannabis plant matter and seeds provided by Martian Grow, an open-source citizen science project. Advertisement The purpose was to study the effects of microgravity on the germination and resilience of plants. The project aims to understand how plant life could adapt on Mars. All you need to know about planets in our solar system Our solar system is made up of nine planets with Earth the third closest to the Sun. But each planet has its own quirks, so find out more about them all... How old is Earth? Plus other facts on our planet How many moons does Mercury have? What colour is Venus? How far away is Mars to Earth? And other facts on the red planet How big is Jupiter? How many moons does Saturn have? Does Uranus have rings? How many moons does Neptune have? How big is Pluto? How hot is the Sun?
