Navajo Nation's objection to landing human remains on the moon prompts last-minute White House meeting

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: CNN Space-Science

Updated 9:49 AM EST, Sat January 6, 2024


CNN — The White House has convened a last-minute meeting to discuss a private mission to the moon — set to launch in days — after the largest group of Native Americans in the United States asked the administration to delay the flight because it will be carrying cremated human remains destined for a lunar burial. If successful, the commercial mission scheduled to launch Monday — dubbed Peregrine Mission One — will be the first time an American-made spacecraft has landed on the lunar surface since the end of the Apollo program in 1972.

But Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said that allowing the remains to touch down there would be an affront to many indigenous cultures, which revere the moon. “The moon holds a sacred place in Navajo cosmology,” Nygren said in a Thursday statement. “The suggestion of transforming it into a resting place for human remains is deeply disturbing and unacceptable to our people and many other tribal nations.”

The private companies providing these lunar burial services, Celestis and Elysium Space, are just two of several paying customers hitching a ride to the moon on Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic Technology’s Peregrine lunar lander. The uncrewed spacecraft is expected to lift off on the inaugural flight of the United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Celestis’ payload, called Tranquility Flight, includes 66 “memorial capsules” containing “cremated remains and DNA,” which will remain on the lunar surface “as a permanent tribute to the intrepid souls who never stopped reaching for the stars,” according to the company’s website. “We are aware of the concerns expressed by Mr. Nygren, but do not find them substantive,” Celestis CEO Charles Chafer told CNN.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/05/world/peregrine-moon-mission-navajo-nation-objection-human-remains-scn/index.html

[ForgoTheConsequence]

1. In my religion it would be an honor.

That's why we don't make policy based on religion.

[brooklynite]

2. Presumably someone wanted their relation's remains ti be sent...

Nobody else’s decision.

[Farmer-Rick]

97. Turning the moon into a cemetery

Is nobody else's business?

I think it is every person's business. And we should also take away all the trash that was left up there.

So now the moon can be both a trash dump and a cemetery?

[prodigitalson]

105. better than taking up room down here

[Farmer-Rick]

108. Really?

Why? It's a natural wonder and we're letting it turn to trash.

We created all the mess on earth. At least we can clean it up. We can't just send a group of prisoners off to the moon to clean that mess up.

[prodigitalson]

120. Who is cleaning up the cemetaries here?

[EX500rider]

121. "It's a natural wonder"

By that you mean a airless lifeless rock bathed in radiation with daytime highs around 250f and lows of -200?

I be fine if we shipped all our hazardous waste there, won't do it any harm and not like you'll be able to see it from here.

[Farmer-Rick]

122. It affects and shapes the earth

A moon like the earth has is a rare and unusual natural satellite. There aren't too many planets with such an unusual moon.

Spoiling it and trashing it just because it has no air or protection from some radiation is ridiculous.

The Grand Canyon is just a huge ditch. Let's dump our trash, hazardous waste and dead bodies into it. Where do you draw the line of despoiling natural wonders?

There are parts of Everest that have very little atmosphere and receive higher doses of radiation due to its height. Shall we dump our waste on that too? (Though climbers have been dumping trash and leaving dead bodies all over that too.)

Just because you have no appreciation of the natural world, doesn't mean it's a good thing to despoil it all.

[EX500rider]

123. Still a dust covered lifeless rock that is impossible to hurt.

No eco-system, no life, just barren rock & dust.
I have plenty appreciation of actual nature. The moon has none.

[Farmer-Rick]

124. It's part of formation of the earth

It's a natural formation, created by nature not man, thus natural. It has an environment of it's own. Just because you don't appreciate its environment, doesn't make it any less of a natural environment.

So to you, if you have no appreciation for it, it should be trashed and despoiled?

[EX500rider]

128. Is has no real environment

What is the natural environment?
The natural environment consists of land-based ecosystems such as grasslands and forests, aquatic ecosystems such as rivers and wetlands, and coastal and marine ecosystems such as mangroves and sea-grass meadows

[marybourg]

3. Gene Shoemaker, credited in the cnn story with being an astronaut,

was not. He was an astronomer.

[2naSalit]

4. Yeah, I'm with Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren...

Nothing is sacred if somebody can make a buck from it.

[hlthe2b]

7. Me too. It appears to be largely those of us who live in the West who have any respect/reverence for Navajo

beliefs and traditions. This isn't a mere "religious" issue... it is ingrained in Native identity. But it appears some things never change.

[ForgoTheConsequence]

11. The moon belongs to everyone and is important in many religions.

[hlthe2b]

12. It belongs to EVERYONE and should not be made a human remains dump for $$$$

[jimfields33]

13. Nobody owns the moon! Nobody!

If deceased members want their final resting place on the moon, then we should welcome it. Quite frankly it’s better then all those old pieces of satellite parts floating all over the place.

[hlthe2b]

14. Nobody owns the moon and nor does anyone have the right to turn it into a human remains dump

for profit. Geebus. I can't believe you are advocating this. No one owns the moon yet those monied interests should be able to assert ownership over everyone else and anyone's objections to dump human remains? Really?


Let them take their $$$ and shoot their remains into the sun--nothing left, no debris, nothing. And we don't have yet another planet or celestial body left with our debris or refuse.

[jimfields33]

19. I'd put energy into cleaning up the junk in

The atmosphere. To me it is more worthwhile. Even bringing back a few satellites and parts would help. A few cremated people won’t ruin the moon. Nothing wrong with advocating progressive ideas. It’s just strange and new to some. Progress is hard to accept until it isn’t. Some get their quicker.

[hlthe2b]

24. While I agree on the space junk, there is nothing progressive about enabling the profiteers

[FirstLight]

69. "a few cremated people..." but flying them up there creates more junk!

It's not sellable real estate, period.

[PlutosHeart]

72. Not to mention polluting

the atmosphere along with the moon.

[delisen]

118. Europeans arriving in New World started small as polluters.

Perhaps I am cynical but what started here in 1492 has grown to be the massive pollution that is currently threatening the life of our planet..

We are still in the mode of allowing businesses to not take responsibility for their messes.
I guess I don’t see this particular moon project with the vanity “burials” as progressive..

Your cleanup idea is good but I don’t want all costs to fall on society’s shoulders rather than economic actors who make the messes.

[lapfog_1]

30. We are talking about a flake of an ash

not a body. not bones. Not even a finger or toe. Something more like a micro-dot.

And, it's not likely that this is the first fragment of a human to be on the moon.

[hlthe2b]

32. and enabling profiteering.... Nope. It belongs to the world. Not wealthy assed American profiteers.

and I agree with the Navajo.

[EX500rider]

95. "and enabling profiteering."

It's a private company, I believe they have to make a profit to stay in business like all private companies.

And I don't think $12,000 for a delivery to the moon is excessive, on the contrary it sounds very cheap.

[hlthe2b]

106. No. It is apparently you that wants to enable their profiteering to turn the moon into a dumping ground.

Do you think it is a great solution to our overfilled landfills too? Because that is next...Perhaps our nuclear waste?

[EX500rider]

107. Since it is a lifeless barren rock does not bother me at all

In fact prefer it to any dumping on our biosphere here on earth, esp for nuclear waste

[ripcord]

43. They are going to sprinkle ashes, not dump nuclear waste

It won't even be noticed.

[Easterncedar]

51. Dumping canisters, not sprinkling anything

It’s a disgusting waste of natural resources to carry trash to the moon, and an objectionable assertion of personal privilege and possession of something that belongs to us all. IMHO.

[hlthe2b]

75. So you support the profiteers polluting what belongs to all of us?--nice supportive praise of the grifters

First a few cremains... Then our nation's overfilled landfills. I remember how some justified dumping their old mattresses and garbage in our nation's streams and wooded areas. But anything to let the exploiters profit, eh?

[hlthe2b]

74. So supportive of the big monied profiteers and exploiters, eh?

[The Grand Illuminist]

59. If the ashes are scattered on the moon surface

The solar radiation and the heat will obliterate the ashes into nothing.

[Chainfire]

46. Make no mistake, someone will end up owning the moon.

[The Grand Illuminist]

56. I agree

nt

[ArkansasDemocrat1]

66. Harriman Enterprises takes note...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_Sold_the_Moon

[sop]

83. After they discover vast deposits of unobtanium.

[Farmer-Rick]

99. I actually think it's horrible

That these rich idiots think it is no one's concern if they turn the moon into a cemetery and trash dump.....mankind has tons of trash remains on the moon too.

Is there any part of the solar system we can't despoil?

[hlthe2b]

104. Pretty shocking that so many on this thread are in favor of exploitative profiteers...

I thought I'd awakened to a parallel universe seeing that.

[Farmer-Rick]

109. So True

If not for the moon, a lot of things on earth would be so messed up. And here we are throwing our trash and dead bodies at it.

[Happy Hoosier]

33. With all due respect...

.... they don't own the moon. And the moon isn't "sacred." It's a giant rock orbiting our planet. Nothing magic about it.

There are reasons to stop folks from piling stuff on the moon willy nilly. "It's sacred" isn;t one of them.

[2naSalit]

34. Matter of perspective.

[Happy Hoosier]

35. Sure... THEY can believe it's sacred...

... but that doesn't give them any special right to dictate what is done with it by other people.

same as with any religion.... beleive what you wanty.... but you can't impose those beliefs on others.

[thucythucy]

91. Isn't this "imposing beliefs" on everyone else, namely the belief that the moon is there to be exploited

by grifters and used as a dump for the uber-wealthy?

Just another instance of some people having way too much money.

[Happy Hoosier]

94. That's not what they said, though.

They specifically object to this based on teh idea that the moon is "sacred." That's nice, but not a good reason.

There ARE good reasons to regulate what people can do on the moon. That's not one of them.

[thucythucy]

98. Well, the concept of "sacred" is somewhat malleable.

Some might consider the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to be "sacred" and thus not amenable to having a billboard erected on its top.

I don't much care what rationale is used, I just think using the moon as a dust bin for cremains is the height of arrogance.

And I'm not sure I know what "sacred" means in this context, but if by "sacred" they mean not to be used for grossly commercial purposes I'm all for it. Just like the Black Hills are "sacred" -- meaning not to be sullied by open pit mining, fracking, or oil exploration.

At some point it would be nice if we didn't hang a dollar sign on anything and everything around us.

This reminds me of the idea that was floated a few years ago of using the night sky for ads. I mean, why not? All that "empty" space just crying out for commercial exploitation.

Arrogant, ugly, and typical of our increasingly benighted world view.

[3Hotdogs]

36. Yeah, laugh our asses off at the idea of a guy being resurrected, three days after he died.

But "sacred" this or that?

It's another story, partly based on guilt for what we did to their ancestors.

[Farmer-Rick]

100. True it's not sacred

But despoiling the moon with trash and dead people is disgusting. You know they will just willy nilly dump it all over the surface.

It's like turning the grand canyon into a dump and cemetery.

[reACTIONary]

41. As far as I'm concerned, the moon....

... isn't sacred, buck or no buck.

[Farmer-Rick]

101. No, much like the Grand Canyon isn't sacred

So, let's dump our trash and dead bodies over it? And you know they are just dumping crap nilly willy all over the surface of the moon.

If using the indigenous people's sense of religion will keep from despoiling a natural wonder, I'm on their side despite the fact that I'm an atheist.

[Kali]

110. people dump ashes in GC all the time, not to mention the suicides and accidents that don't get found.

in fact I was charged by a relative of a dear friend to take a small canister to deposit at some point. he used to be a mule guide and loved his time up there. meh, this sort of thing really doesn't bother me. the tribe probably doesn't have much to go on seeing as this planet is totally covered by dead stuff, but I do think it was showing some respect for the Administration to meet with them over it.

[reACTIONary]

114. I don't think the analogy is on point. No one is...

... despoiling the moon, nor are they dumping dead bodies on it. I'm not concerned about (a few) indigenous folk's sense of religion, and I don't want to hear their complaining about the world we actually live in, rather than the world of their ancestors or whoever.

[NickB79]

68. Lots of talk about mining the moon for Helium-3 to fuel fusion reactors

If we get clean fusion reactors figured out, there are only limited ways to fuel them WITHOUT mining the lunar soil for a profit.

https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/3647216-china-has-returned-helium-3-from-the-moon-opening-door-to-future-technology/

[sinkingfeeling]

5. I'm with the Navajo. These companies don't own the lunar surface of the moon. Wonder how

people would react if I formed a for-profit company to place human remains on the Mount of OIives, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, or Golgotha?

[hlthe2b]

9. +1

[Igel]

17. Mt. of Olives already hosts a very old graveyard.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_of_Olives_Jewish_Cemetery

Checked on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. A lot of churches are graveyards of sorts. Didn't know that one of the triggers for the First Crusade was the caliph's decision to level all Jewish and Xian religious buildings in Jerusalem. But it's a smallish affair, the first one's gone and the second was rebuilt under control and supervision of out-group overlords.

Nobody knows, but many believe, where Golgotha was. Some place it in one of the chapels of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Others don't.

[sinkingfeeling]

21. But does any corporation just have the right to litter those

places with paid-for capsules of remains?

[reACTIONary]

42. As far for ownership of the moon, neither do the Navajo.

[EX500rider]

64. "These companies don't own the lunar surface of the moon"

....would react if I formed a for-profit company to place human remains on the Mount of OIives, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, or Golgotha
However someone does own those places.

Letting religious believes dictate what we can & cannot do on other barren airless planets seems like a bad idea to me.

And I bet if this was a US Christian org making this demand there would be a lot less agreement with their side on DU

[oldsoftie]

79. Those places ARE owned.

[muriel_volestrangler]

82. About the same as a for-profit company that scatters ashes at sea? ie no one would care at all

People don't own the ocean, and are allowed to scatter ashes there (although that has more of an environmental impact than a unopened cannister containing ashes in a lander on the Moon). And some cultures may say "the ocean is sacred", but that doesn't give them a veto on its uses.

The Mount of OIives, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, or Golgotha are not equivalents to the Moon. They are specific spots where people go, not something universal to mankind.

[robbob]

116. I'll take ashes dumped into the sea

over non-biodegradable plastic scrubbing beads that they put into cosmetics and exfoliants which absorb other toxic wastes and go directly into the food chain. Somewhat banned now (thanks Obama!) but seriously, what twisted executive fuckwad thought dumping plastic micro beads into the water supply was a good idea?

[bluestarone]

96. Agree!! I feel that THIS would be the starting point of lots of other crap not being discussed.

Don't even go there, with this crap!

[FreepFryer]

6. Rich people just can't help fucking everything up for everyone else. (Nt)

[hlthe2b]

8. Exactly... and have no respect for the non-monied interests

[ShepKat]

10. no need for this post

you'z said it all much more eloquently

[Hermit-The-Prog]

15. Why in hell are we about to contaminate and trash up the moon?

[NickB79]

23. It's a dead world, baked with solar radiation

What exactly are we contaminating? We're adding more dust to the lunar surface?

[ShazzieB]

78. Dust and whatever containers it's in.

I don't get the impression that the ashes are gong to be scattered. I think the plan is to dump a bunch of containers there, each presumably labeled as to whose remains it contains. And i am sure that they plan on doing this again and again and again, as long as there are rich people willing to pay $$$$ for this service.

I think it's pretty tacky myself.

[nocoincidences]

27. Because that's what we do.

We trash every surface available to us.

[orleans]

49. one word: capitalism nt

[petronius]

16. The surface area of the moon is about 150% that of North America; we're a long

way from having anything approaching a meaningful impact. And when we do settle the moon, all this stuff is going to be trampled underfoot anyway.

At this point, I support the right of anyone who can to land on the moon, and I support the right of anyone who chooses to to remove any detritus from the moon...

(Although I would object if a real-life Chairface Chippendale decided to etch his name into the satellite...)

[DavidDvorkin]

18. No one owns the moon

No country, no company, and no religious group.

[riversedge]

20. I read this rather long article and it is not clear whose remains these are-

unless I missed it.

[LudwigPastorius]

61. It's Arthur C. Clarke, Gene Rodenberry & Majel Barrett, and 47 rich spares.

The Navajos have to know that any moon sacredness was already trashed when Eugene Shoemaker's ashes were subjected to a high-speed burial on the surface.

[riversedge]

63. Thanks, I had forgotten that I had asked whose the remains belonged to.

[moniss]

22. So some rich people wanted to

piss away money on a "vanity" burial is what this looks like. How about we go all the way and have Eloon live in a "pod" on the moon and be the caretaker of the "cemetery". Good heavens people is there nothing that isn't "for sale" anymore?

[Novara]

25. "private companies providing these lunar burial services"

This right here is why it should never be allowed.

Is there nothing rich people won't fuck up for the rest of the world?

[EX500rider]

89. "Is there nothing rich people won't fuck up for the rest of the world?"

What exactly is being "fucked up" on a barren air-less rock?

[NickB79]

26. If humanity ever establishes colonies on other worlds, the dead will be buried there

A Lunar or Martian colony will not be wasting the fuel to ship dead bodies back to Earth for burial.

Unless humanity wipes itself out or knocks itself back to the Stone Age in the next few decades, we better get used to the idea of human remains being interred on other worlds.

[SarahD]

28. Maybe ask them?

How can we do this in a respectful way?

[MOMFUDSKI]

29. Religion, once again, rears its ugly head.

If done right this could be just one more war caused by religion. Stop it!

[SalamanderSleeps]

70. Sorted.

Nail meet head!

[DetroitLegalBeagle]

31. Nobody owns the moon.

If you have the money and the clearance to launch, then have at it. It's a dead rock in space covered in rocks and dust and whatever leftover stuff from the moon missions and landers.

[generalbetrayus]

37. As far as keeping the moon "sacred", that time passed a long time ago.

Items that previous missions left on the moon include "a total of 96 bags of ‘human waste’ – urine, faeces and vomit!" https://www.sciencefocus.com/space/why-is-there-poo-on-the-moon

[Dave Bowman]

50. Holy Shit!

[AZSkiffyGeek]

103. That seems like it would be a bigger deal

I believe it was the Navajo who objected to using reclaimed wastewater to seed snow on Mt Humphrey's in AZ because it would be putting human waste on a sacred site.

[LauraInLA]

38. So I took a family poll.

My 51-y-o husband doesn’t really have an opinion either for or against.

I THINK I think they should be allowed to empty the cremains canisters on the moon but not leave the canisters there. I agree the moon belongs to us all but don’t have a serious problem with leaving ashes (without boxes, memorials, or anything “permanent”).

My 20-ish son thinks it’s stupid to pay money to send your ashes to the moon. And that the moon is like Antarctica — we all “own” it and no one should dump anything there. My son also thinks we shouldn’t pour cremains in the ocean However, he didn’t have an issue with us burying some of my mother’s ashes at her favorite beach, where they were undoubtedly washed into the ocean. I should ask him how he feels about throwing them into the wind off a cliff, a la The Big Lebowski . Millennials — go figure (just kidding)!

[IrishAfricanAmerican]

40. Just as an aside...

does anyone know if Mrs. Kramden's remains are included?

[reACTIONary]

45. I see what you did there.

[Lunabell]

102. Gen Z is now flummoxed.

[Elessar Zappa]

44. I don't think decisions should be made based on religion.

And that includes indigenous beliefs.

[jgmiller]

47. I don't mean to be disrepectful but

Shouldn't they have been upset about all of the equipment we and other nations have sent there for the last 60 years? I mean we even intentionally crashed stuff into the moon.

To me that seems far more dispectful than landing ashes on the moon as a memorial. Honestly we're all made of stardust anyway and in one way or other will end up there eventually if you want to get poetic about it.

[Orrex]

48. I'm sure that the US will honor their wishes, just like the US has done in the past.

[Kali]

52. the Dine have some interesting beliefs concerning death.

good for the Administration to do some kind of listening meeting.

[tclambert]

53. So how much for corporate naming rights? If some company wants to carve their logo into the Moon's

surface, how much will they charge for that? I'm picturing the Moon in a hundred years looking like a NASCAR entry.

[chouchou]

54. The moon is moving away from earth, anyway. Let the moon carry the dusk forever.

[Eko]

55. What if my religion believes we should be buried on the moon?

Or what if my non religion believes we should be buried on the moon? That is an even better question.

[The Grand Illuminist]

57. OK....

Then what about Mars?

[Shipwack]

71. Obligatory...

(On edit: it's supposed to be Schwarzenegger saying "get your ass to Mars" but I'm not seeing it myself... My apologies if it's also blank for you.)

[BWdem4life]

58. Compromise and bury them on the dark side ;)

I'll see you on the dark side of the moon

[Oneironaut]

60. "Stop what you're doing! It violates my religion!"

No thanks. Don’t believe in moon burials? Don’t get buried there.

[randr]

62. As an assumed part owner of he moon

I want my share of the profits

[LudwigPastorius]

65. It'd be less than a thousandth of a cent.

There are just too many other "owners".

[Diraven]

67. I agree this is a total waste

Of money and resources. But if we start letting religious groups claim everything in the universe as their own sacred deities in order to have veto power over progress in business and science we're on a slippery slope to the next Dark Ages.

[PlutosHeart]

73. Is that really any different

though from the desire and belief that one should be buried there? It is based on a personal value.
Technically speaking just as most Indigenous have no word for "art" they also don't have a word for their "religion".

My value system and belief is to respect nature and the environment which I see going out to cover the skies and planets. While we face immenant destruction, the burial on the moon business is highly polluting to our environment. Seems we are not happy enough sending trash all over in the night skies and now the moon with other profitable trips will start to become a dump I would guess. If we sent another expedition there I could see an advantage of dropping them at that time. But that is not the issue. The issue is probably this will become a regular business.

[SCantiGOP]

90. The whole funeral industry is a scam and a waste

My body will go to a Medical University. I don’t feel the chemicals and minerals that remain have any value once my consciousness has departed, so let the remains do some good.

[Mike Niendorff]

76. Everyone is entitled to theor own religious views.

But nobody is entitled to force everybody else to believe or practice their religion.

I don't see how this is a difficult concept -- especially given how hard-won that freedom has been for all concerned.

Whether it's a Navajo religion or a European religion, "sacredness" is a religious construct, nothing more nothing less.


MDN

[Shermann]

77. Clear overreach from a legal perspective to rope off the whole moon

That said, the idea of lunar burials seems absurd to me.

Maybe we can create burial-free reservations on the moon?

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

80. If dropping vials of human ashes is disturbing, ...

... wait until someone builds a permanent military base on the moon. That should be even more of a religious effrontery.

[HAB911]

81. If any decision is based on religion

fuck it

[AkFemDem]

84. Everyones talking about polluting the moon but...

What about the environmental impact right here on earth from these flights of hubris? How much mining for materials, production and manufacturing energy, fuel, goes into creating and operating these craft?

I'm not as concerned about the impact of some ashes on the lunar surface as I am about the process to get them there.

[GiqueCee]

85. Just curious...

... How much does this asinine idea cost? Sounds like an obscenely pretentious attention-getting device for jaded squillionaires.

Why don't they distinguish themselves by doing some good with their ill-gotten gains?

Oh. Right. Guess there's no cure for pathological selfishness. Well, maybe there's one...

Karma, meet Chuckie Chafer. He needs an object lesson.

[Torchlight]

86. After all is said and done,

and placing all the sanctimony in a corner for the moment, I lean towards thinking that as silly as the reaons to prevent a burial on the moonare, they don't hold a candle to the sillieness of a burial on moon .

[sir pball]

87. Well, I just checked in with a Wiccan priestess friend...

She says that a moon burial would be extraordinarily sacred and beautiful, and hopes that if and when Moon travel is normalized, there is a cemetery or two established up there.

So, which religion is The Correct One?

[robbob]

117. What about the Sun worshipers?

Could they sue the solar power industry for “stealing” energy from their sacred object of worship? Worth filing a lawsuit for fair compensation, I guess?

[sir pball]

119. Shhh, don't be giving people ideas! nt

[Dear_Prudence]

88. NEPA and Old familiar places

The National Environmental Policy Act considers cultural values and I think we should hold on to those values rather than dismiss them out of hand. We shouldn't be ruled by religion, but neither should we be ruled only by property rights and by an attitude of cultural imperialism. On a lighter(?) note, the songs "I'll be looking at the moon, but I'll be seeing you" could become macabre, "Fly me to the moon" could become a death wish, and "By the light of the silvery moon" could become "and by the glint of those silvery urns."

[The Mouth]

92. Idiotic

As is any kowtowing to any religion for any reason.

[BradBo]

93. Stupid idea. Keep those nasty remains off the moon.

[Griefbird]

111. What a great use of scarce resources

Here we are buying solar panels, installing heat pumps, reusing resources and changing our lifestyles to keep the planet viable for our grandchildren, and it is offset by egomaniacs using our common resources and creating tons of polluting chemicals to satisfy the whims of dead people. Let them rot.

[EX500rider]

112. You do understand the mission is a scientific one

With over 14 separate scientific modules?

[Sneederbunk]

113. The Navajos are on to something.

I expect them to get some money out of this.

[reACTIONary]

115. Update: Peregrine Lander has Experienced an Anomaly....

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-67915696

Peregrine is struggling to maintain a stable lock on the Sun, enabling its solar panels to receive a constant supply of sunshine to generate electricity. Without power, it has no mission.

"The team believes that the most likely cause of the unstable Sun-pointing is a propulsion anomaly that, if proven true, threatens the ability of the spacecraft to soft-land on the Moon," the company said in a statement, adding: "As the team fights to troubleshoot the issue, the spacecraft battery is reaching operationally low levels."

[GoneOffShore]

125. This thread needs two things

[BumRushDaShow]

126. Makes LBN

a little more "exciting".

[GoneOffShore]

130. I keep checking the thread to see if it's Lounge worthy yet.

[intrepidity]

127. Gotta spend all those corporate profits somehow

You know, the profits from the "inflation" that's killing the rest of us.

Gross.

[LiberalFighter]

129. If they release the ashes fine. But if includes a metal container. No