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Celestis, a futuristic funeral home, suffered a serious setback last week
when the ashes of 50 people failed to reach Earth orbit. The Taurus satellite
launcher on which the remains were riding tumbled into the Indian Ocean after it
failed some 80 seconds into its flight from California. A NASA ozone mapping
craft and a privately owned Earth imaging satellite were lost. The cremated
remains—in small capsules—included those of Mareta West, a lunar
geologist who helped choose landing sites for NASA’s moonshots. “Everyone will
fly again,” says Celestis co-founder Charles Chafer, who promises to send fresh
samples of…