Science

Cat owner launches campaign to send the ashes of his tabby Pikachu to space for 'a final send-off'


It’ll be one small step for Pikachu, but one giant leap for felinekind. 

Pet owner Steve Munt decided there would be no better way to pay tribute to his deceased orange tabby, Pikachu, than launching the feline’s ashes into orbit around Earth. 

In doing so, it would mark the first time a cremated cat has traveled to space.

Munt has created a GoFundMe seeking donations for the launch, but has already paid down the required $5,000 to make it happen, according to Space.com

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Owner Steve Munt decided there would be no better way to pay tribute to his deceased orange tabby, Pikachu, (pictured left) by launching the feline's ashes into orbit around the Earth

Owner Steve Munt decided there would be no better way to pay tribute to his deceased orange tabby, Pikachu, (pictured left) by launching the feline’s ashes into orbit around the Earth

Pikachu passed away in January following complications from diabetes, Munt said.

He credits Pikachu’s love for his other cat, Zee, as one of the reasons why Zee has been able to survive kidney disease.

Now, he’s hoping to honor Pikachu with an elaborate send-off to outer space. 

‘Pikachu will have a final send-off like no cat has ever had before,’ Munt wrote on the GoFundMe page. 

‘A portion of his remains, from his heart, will be launched into orbit, where he will watch over the Earth, and we can track his location as he showers the world with love.’

Munt credits Pikachu's love for his other cat, Zee, (pictured left) as one of the reasons why Zee was able to make a full recovery from a previous life-threatening illness. Now, he's hoping to honor Pikachu with an elaborate send-off to outer space later this year

Munt credits Pikachu’s love for his other cat, Zee, (pictured left) as one of the reasons why Zee was able to make a full recovery from a previous life-threatening illness. Now, he’s hoping to honor Pikachu with an elaborate send-off to outer space later this year

Celestis Memorial Spaceflights hosts intergalactic memorial services for both humans and pets. Services start at $2,495 for a brief launch into space and go up to $12,500

Celestis Memorial Spaceflights hosts intergalactic memorial services for both humans and pets. Services start at $2,495 for a brief launch into space and go up to $12,500

So far, the GoFundMe has raised $1,725 out of Munt’s goal of $5,000. 

Munt is a former NASA employee who helped to write software for the Hubble Space Telescope, according to KSLA News

After Pikachu’s death, he began thinking about ways to memorialize Pikachu and took inspiration from his background in science and space. 

He discovered Celestis Memorial Spaceflights, which hosts intergalactic memorial services for both humans and pets. 

‘Space resonated with me as I was a child of the Space Age. Explorer 1 was launched on my first birthday,’ Munt told Space.com. ‘The first chimp in space was launched on my fourth birthday. I was glued in front of the TV for every space launch I could watch, [and] I will be able to attend Pikachu’s launch.’

Celestis offers a variety of services for mourning family and friends, ranging from an ‘Earth Rise’ memorial, which briefly sends a loved ones’ remains into space, then returns them back to Earth for retrieval.

An Earth Rise memorial starts at $2,495, while an Earth Orbit memorial costs $5,000. This shoots off ashes into space atop a rocket, which orbits the Earth, but is destroyed upon reentry. 

‘Your special friend will venture into the final frontier as part of a real space mission, riding alongside a commercial or scientific satellite,’ Celestis’ website reads.

Pictured is the first cat to be launched into space. Felicitte, a French stray, completed a suborbital flight into space in 1963

Pictured is the first cat to be launched into space. Felicitte, a French stray, completed a suborbital flight into space in 1963

‘The Celestis spacecraft is placed in Earth orbit where it remains until it reenters the atmosphere, harmlessly vaporizing like a shooting star in final tribute.’

Services cost as much as $12,500 if family members want to shoot their loved ones’ remains into deep space or onto the moon. 

So far, Celestis has hosted 15 successful space flights, with the most recent launch taking off from Spaceport America in New Mexico on September 17th. 

The remains of two dogs, Apollo and Laika, were sent into space by Celestis, according to Space.com.  

Capsules containing the cremated remains are placed aboard an UP Aerospace SpaceLoft XL rocket.

The launches are part of missions sponsored by the NASA Spaceflight Opportunities Program, which conduct microgravity experiments and technology demonstrations, according to Celestis.  

Munt has already paid the $5,000 for the Earth Orbit service, with the launch expected to take place sometime in the next 18 months. 

While Pikachu will be the first cremated cat to venture into space, he will not be the first feline to be launched into orbit. 

That title was claimed by Felicette, a French stray who was launched into space on October 18th 1963 aboard a Veronique AGI 47 sounding rocket. 

She returned from her 13-minute-long suborbital flight in good health, but was euthanized two months later so that scientists could study her brain.  

WHAT SPACE MEMORIAL SERVICES ARE AVAILABLE FOR PETS? 

Earth Rise: The service launches ‘a symbolic portion of cremated remains’ into space and after experiencing the zero gravity environment, returns the individual flight capsules back to Earth. The capsules are recovered and the remains returned to the pets’ owners. It costs from $995.

Earth Orbit: Costing from $4,995, the ashes travel aboard a spacecraft on a ‘real space mission’ alongside a satellite. It orbits the Earth before re-entering the atmosphere where it vaporises ‘like a shooting star in final tribute’.

Luna: The service takes pets’ cremated remains to the moon from $12,500 (£7,410). Celestis first offered this service to humans in 1999 when it received a request from Nasa to assist the family of Dr Eugene Shoemaker to leave some of this ashes aboard the Nasa Lunar Prospector mission.

Voyager: The ultimate pet adventurer can take a tour of deep space from $12,500 (£7,410). Ashes will be places aboard a craft that leaves the Earth-moon system on a permanent celestial journey.



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