You might not make it to heaven in the afterlife, but you sure can go as far as the moon. Celestial¹ funerals are now a possibility, thanks to San Francisco startup Elysium Space. For a ginormous fee of about $12,000, the company will privately² transport your cremated³ remains⁴ to the moon!

在来生里，你不一定去得了天堂，但你现在却能到月球那么远的地方。有了旧金山的“极乐世界”公司，“天葬”服务现在已成为可能。花费12000美元，该公司便会单独将您火化后的遗物运送至月球。

Founded by former NASA engineer Thomas Civeit, Elysium boasts of bringing space and funeral experts together to provide the unique service. “Families now have the historic opportunity to commemorate⁵ their departed loved ones every night through the everlasting⁶ splendour and soft illumination of the Earth’s closest companion: the moon,” they stated in a press release.

“极乐世界”公司最初由美国航空航天局（NASA）前任工程师托马斯•西威特创立，该公司将宇宙专家和丧葬专家集合起来，定制提供这种特殊服务。“很多家庭现在就有这种历史性的珍贵机会，来纪念他们逝去的亲人，每晚向外看看月亮，这个离地球最近的伴侣，看看它永恒且柔和的光辉。”他们在新闻发布会上强调道。

Although the company was founded in 2013, the service only offered in August of this year, after Elysium managed to seal a deal with space logistics company Astrobotic Technology. They’re currently taking orders, and the first batch⁷ of ashes will travel to the moon on Griffin Lander spacecraft⁸ – Astrobotic’s inaugural⁹ lunar mission – in 2017.

虽然此公司2013年才成立，在他们与国际空间物流公司Astrobotic Technology达成秘密协议后，今年八月推出此项服务。他们现在已经开始接受订单，第一批骨灰会于2017年通过Astrobotic的首次登月任务，到达月球上的格里芬着陆航天器。

According to Civeit, the families who are opting¹⁰ for the service usually have a special connection with space or the night sky. In fact, that’s how the idea for the service came about. Elysium’s initial plan was to run a service called Shooting Star Memorial, in which ashes are briefly¹¹ sent into orbit and return to Earth as a bright streak¹² across the atmosphere. But then they were approached with an unusual request by US Army infantry¹³ soldier Steven Jenks.

西威特表示，选择这项服务的家庭通常都对太空和夜空有着特殊的感情。事实上，这也是这个点子最初萌发的背景。“极乐世界”最初的计划其实是开始一项名为“流星纪念”的服务，将骨灰运送到轨道然后划过大气层降落到地球上。但后来美国步兵史蒂芬•詹克思找到他们，并提出了新想法。

Jenks, who lost his mother to lung cancer, wanted to send her remains to the moon because it was a special symbol of their relationship. She would always write to him: “No matter how lonely you feel and how far you are, always look to the Moon and know I am with you. I love you to the Moon and back, Love, Mom.” So when he learned that Astrobotic was set up to send various payloads to the Moon, he asked if they could take his mother’s ashes too.

詹克思的母亲因为肺癌而离世，之后，他想将他母亲的遗体送到月球上，因为月亮是他们母子情的特殊象征。她经常给他在信里写道：“不管你感觉多寂寞，离我多么远，别忘了时常抬头看看月亮，就知道我一直在你身边。我对你的爱，好比从地球到月亮再回来那么绵长。爱你的，妈妈。”所以后来当他知道Astrobotic公司准备开始大批运送物质到月球时，他询问了能否将她妈妈的骨灰一起带上月球。

“It was perfect timing,” Civeit said. “Steven Jenks told his touching story to Astrobotic as he wanted to have the ashes of his mother delivered to the moon. Astrobotic does not provide such services to individuals but we were signing our contract with Astrobotic at the time and we were honored to make Steven’s wish come true.” Jenks, of course, is happy to know that his mother’s final resting place will be on the moon. “I will know she is looking down on my family and maybe they won’t feel so alone,” he said.

“这时间特别合适，”西威特解释道。“史蒂芬向Astrobotic讲述了他动人的故事，希望他们能将她的骨灰带上月球。虽然Astrobotic那时并不向私人提供此项服务，但我们已经与其签订过合同，所以我们很荣幸能让史蒂芬的愿望成真。”后来，史蒂芬知道他母亲最后的安息地在月球也非常开心。“我知道她一直在默默注视着我们家，可能这样他们也就感觉没那么寂寞，”他向我们说道。

For the first 50 signups, the ‘Lunar Memorials’ will cost $9,950. After that, the price will be hiked to $11,950. Families that book a spot on the mission for a Lunar Memorial will be sent a kit¹⁴ including an engravable metal box, into which they can place approximately one gram of cremated remains. Approximately 100 remains will be sent to the moon in the second half of 2017. Reservations for the Shooting Star option are a lot cheaper, at $1,990. The company plans to launch its first 100 ash capsules into space later this Fall – they will orbit the earth for several months before falling back and burning up through the atmosphere – like shooting stars.

第一批报名的有约50人，“月球纪念”大概会花费9950美元。不过在那之后，价格一路飙升到11950美元。已经报名预定的家庭会收到一套工具，里面包括可刻字的金属盒，可以在里面放置大约一克的火化遗体。在2017年下半年，大约100位人的骨灰将被送到月球。不过流星项目就要便宜很多，花费大约1990美元。该公司准备在这个秋天向太空发射100枚骨灰胶囊，他们会绕着地球轨道航行数月，然后下降，在大气层中燃烧，就像流星一样。

“People often think about technology when they think about space,” Civeit said. “However, space has other inherent values, like the beauty of the night sky, which can be used to create poetic¹⁵ memorial services. The idea that humankind can look up at the Moon and poetically¹⁶ commune with its ancestors is probably as old as the human culture itself.”

“人们在想到太空时总是想到这种科技，”西威特补充道。“不过，太空有它别的内在价值，比如夜空的美丽，它启发我们，让我们提供这种富有诗意的纪念服务。人们抬抬头，看看月亮，与他们的祖先交流的想法可能已经和人类文化一样古老了。”

Once this service “takes off”, the company has plans to extend beyond the solar system. They want to launch a Milky¹⁷ Way Memorial that will send human remains into deep space. The launch date and price are yet to be announced, but it won’t be long considering that the Shooting Star service is already turning a profit.

一旦这项服务“起飞”，此公司计划将服务范围扩展到整个太阳系。他们想开展一个银河纪念服务，将人类遗体送到更远的外太空。虽然发射的日期和价格目前还未定，不过考虑到目前流星服务项目已经开始盈利，估计此类计划也离我们不远了。