Wing And A Prayer

‘STAR Trek fan Celeste Ready was the Eternal Ascent Society’s (EAS) first customer, when she released her mother Myrna Clemons’ ashes in a yellow, five-foot helium balloon.

EAS is offering Americans the chance to have their deceased loved ones cremated, put inside a giant balloon and floated off into space.

Ms Ready says her mother had always wanted to go up into space.

‘It was really amazing,’ she says, ‘The day was overcast. It was weird. When we got [to the park], the sky went blue, the clouds opened up, and we let her go. And as soon as we let her go, the clouds came back.’

The latex balloon is biodegradable. At an altitude of around 30,000 feet, the temperature reaches 40 degrees below zero, the balloon freezes, then fractures, scattering the ashes into the winds, and onto the heads of those who still walk the earth.’

Posted: 9th, March 2004 | In: Strange But True Comment | TrackBack | Permalink