A space fan wants to launch the remains of his pet cat into space as part of a bizarre final farewell.
Steve Munt of Oregon, USA is determined to raise more than $5,000 to make his orange tabby Pikachu the first cremated cat to enter orbit. He’s asking strangers for help via a GoFundMe page where people can send him cash to fund the mission.
“He will have a final send-off like no cat has ever had before,” Munt, who’s based in Lake Oswego, wrote on a fundraising page. “Please help make history and secure Pikachu’s place in the heavens as a guardian angel of this Earth,” he added.
Pikachu died in January following a 12-month battle with diabetes, Munt said. Munt has been able to raise about $1,700 of his $5,000 goal.
That’s how much it costs to fire your pet’s ashes into space with US memorial service Celestis Pets a sister company to Celestis, which offers a space memorial service for human remains.
Pikachu’s ashes will hitch a ride to space as a secondary payload on a satellite launch, according to Munt. He told Space.com that despite the ongoing fundraiser, he has already bought a ticket for a launch “sometime in the next 18 months.”
According to the report by New York Post, Celestis said remains launched into space burn up harmlessly in the atmosphere.
A capsule carrying the pet’s ashes will be “placed in Earth orbit where it remains until it reenters the atmosphere, harmlessly vaporizing like a shooting star in final tribute”, the firm says on its website.
Celestis has launched the ashes of two dogs on previous flights but has never performed a cat space memorial. Munt says the pioneering flight would be a fitting tribute to his beloved pet.