You can now be buried on the moon even if you're not rich

Space burials are nolonger the stuff of science fiction (andwealthyscience fiction TV show creators.)

The cremated remains of more than 450 people havebeen shot into orbitsince StarTrek creator Gene Roddenberry paved the way in 1992, mostof them on private memorial spaceflights withdozens ofother ash samples.

And yet, despite the promise of space being a unique "resting place," almost every tinyvial of remains ever sent there has come back down to Earth or burned up upon re-entry.

This wouldn't have happenedhad the ashes landed on Earth's moon a fact that hasn't been lost on the companies pioneering futuristic funeral technologies.

The San Francisco-based companyElysiumSpace officially launched its 'lunar memorial' service earlier this month, and will soon be sending the remains ofa U.S.Army Infantry Soldier's mother upwardsas part of its first ever moon burial.

"Families now have the historic opportunity to commemorate their departed loved ones every night through the everlasting splendor and soft illumination of the Earth's closest companion: the Moon," wrote Elysium in a press release announcing its newest service, which will be carried out withthe help ofPittsburgh-based lunar logistics company AstroboticTechnology.

A response in the FAQ section of the company's websitefurther explains how the lunar burials will work:

"You receive a kit containing a custom ash capsule to collect a cremated remains sample. After we receive the ash capsule back from you, we place your capsule in the Elysium memorial spacecraft. The latter is eventually integrated to the Astrobotic lander during the designated integration event. From here, the lander is integrated onto the launch vehicle. On launch day, the remains are carried to the moon where the lander will be deployed to its dedicated location, preserving our memorial spacecraft for eternity."

Because Elysium can only send a small portion of cremated remainsto the moon (less than a gram),participants aren't actually paying to have their loved ones"buried" on the moon.

The announcement of the service is still stirring up quite a bit of interest online for its novelty, however though it should be noted that the cremated remains ofgeologist Dr. Eugene Shoemaker were already sent to the moon onNASA's Lunar Prospector craft in 1998.

Celestis, the company that helped Shoemaker's friends arrange his final mission,offers a similar service to Elysium's, though it hasn't sent any ashes to the moon since 1998.

It's also slightly more expensive at$12,500 for one gram of cremated remains, and up to approximately $37,500 for seven grams.

Elysium'smoon burial service costs $11,950 regularly, but, according to the company, "Early reservations for theLunar Memorial serviceopen at $9,950 for the first 50 participants."

While this is no small chunk of change, it's not as exorbitantly expensive as someappear to have imagined especiallyin light of how much funerals, burials and headstones cancost on Earth (between$7,000 and $10,000 on average in North America according to Smithsonian Magazine.)

Then again...