Families from all around the country will be paying close attention to SpaceX's forthcoming ride-share mission tomorrow because it's a memorial flight too!
SpaceX will launch Transporter-5, its latest ride-sharing mission, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Wednesday. The launch window, according to WFTV, is from 2:25 p.m. until 3:24 p.m.
Several tiny microsatellites and nanosatellites will be launched for commercial and government clients into a sun-synchronous orbit.
A Celestis memorial spaceflight mission termed the "Ascension Flight" is among the countless tiny satellites bound into orbit.
Celestis plans to launch a portion of 47 people's cremated remains into space.
Celestis CEO and co-founder Charles Chafer said a rocket would send the ashes in a satellite into Earth orbit.
"They'll stay attached to that satellite that orbits the Earth for at least a decade," Chafer said per WFTV.
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from space launch complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center, Florida on March 30, 2017, with an SES communications satellite.
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Families Traveled to Florida Before Sending Loved Ones' Ashes to Space
Before tomorrow's trip, the families attended a memorial ceremony to commemorate their loved ones on Tuesday. Families from all over the world traveled to Florida to send their loved ones' ashes into space.
Melissa Teston was present during the event. She stated that losing a loved one takes only a second, but honoring them takes a lifetime. Derek Yanes, her brother, is about to take his place among the stars.
"We knew that a space memorial would be something he would have loved, but we never dreamed that he would actually be able to do a space flight," she said per Fox35 Orlando.
Yanes was born with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH), a chronic disorder that impairs the synthesis of cortisol and adrenaline. Yanes died in 2019 at the age of 46 after suffering from adrenal insufficiency as a result of surgery.
His sister stated he was fascinated by rockets as a child and spent a lot of time with his father creating them. Due to his health issues, he could not realize his ambition of becoming an astronaut. Teston has announced that his ashes would be sent into orbit as part of a Celestis memorial mission.
Yanes will be housed in a Cubasat or small satellite taken into orbit by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as part of the company's ride-share program as part of the group's 23rd overall mission, "The Ascension Flight."
The satellite will be launched into low-Earth orbit and will orbit the Earth for the next 10 years. His family will be able to follow his movements and predict when he will die.
According to Teston, this permits his brother to have his name remembered for many years, and their future grandchildren will one day know that their great uncle is orbiting the Earth.
According to Chafer, the ashes will circle the globe for over a decade before re-entering the atmosphere as a shooting star as the last homage.
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