Celestis to send hair samples from ex-US presidents into space

Celestis is a company that specializes in memorial spaceflights (Image Courtesy: United Launch Alliance)

Hair samples from former US Presidents Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan will be sent into space aboard a memorial flight, that will also contain cremated remains of late astronaut Philip Chapman, who served as a mission scientist for the Apollo 14 voyage.

As reported by Universe Today, Celestis, the company undertaking the mission in partnership with United Launch Alliance, will launch the remains aboard a Vulcan Centaur Rocket which will be shot into space and settle into an orbit around the sun.

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Celestis specialises in space burials, where cremated remains are sent into space. It purchases secondary payloads on various space launches to send small portions (1-7 grams) of the remains.

“The overarching goal of Celestis is to assist human expansion throughout the solar system," said co-founder and CEO Charles M. Chafer.

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"By adding the DNA of these American icons to Enterprise, we establish a precursor for future human missions, and add to the historical record of human exploration of deep space,” Chafer added.

In theory, DNA cells in strands of hair can be preserved in deep space for hundreds and thousands of years, as long as they stay away from radiation.