A Teacher and an Army Flight Surgeon and Aviator Discuss Prearranging a Celestis Voyager Service Memorial Spaceflight
People from a wide variety of backgrounds fly on Celestis Memorial Spaceflights – everyone from astronauts, actors and sci-fi authors to homemakers, doctors and plumbers. We recently interviewed a teacher and an army flight surgeon and aviator who have each prearranged a Celestis Memorial Spaceflight with our Voyager Service into deep space, and asked them to share their thoughts on why they want to fly with Celestis at their time of need.
Martha Berg, a science educator, writes that upon discovering Celestis online she, “… was immediately taken by the idea of a memorial spaceflight…. As I approach the end of my life on Earth, I found it to be a wonderful opportunity for part of me to travel into outer space. I was also very intrigued by the fact that my family, especially my grandchildren, can follow my journey. It is very important to me that my grandchildren develop an awe of outer space, as I have. It also, I guess in a weird way, eased my mind about ‘passing on’. Now, part of me is journeying on. I love that idea.”
For Ms. Berg, like so many other Celestis participants, outer space has been an inspiration in her life. “When I was younger,” she writes, “I remember laying outside on a warm summer evening, looking up at the night sky and watching shooting stars and the Milky Way. I would always wonder about other life out there; I believed, and still do, that there are other galaxies that support life.”
In the classroom she endeavored to pass on her sense of wonder to her students. “As a science teacher, I wanted the children I worked with to develop a sense of awe and wonder of our earth and our galaxy: all of outer space. I wanted them to question and to look for answers. However, I found that the kids had a lot of trouble ‘wondering’. I wonder why….I wonder if…. I attribute that to being unable to see the night sky. How can you not develop a sense of wonder when you’re looking at the Milky Way? When you just learned that it took the light from the star you are observing over 300 million years to reach Earth. The light you see is over 300 million years old! What happened to that star? Is it still there?”
When she flies on a future Celestis Voyager Service mission into deep space, her flight message that will be on board the spacecraft will read, “Build a better future for all life.”
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Major (RET.) Alexander Menkes, Army Flight Surgeon and Aviator, chose Celestis Memorial Spaceflights as part of his "path/Immersion in aviation since age 3."
"Like any prepared pilot," Mr. Menkes writes, "there is pre flight, thru flight and POST flight planning. Celestis is the perfect fit for the 'Post' flight of LIFE.
"Spaceflight is in my plans during my 'Thru-Flight' [stage] of life. But as humans we do NOT decide our final day.
"I would be honored to complete my FINAL Flight in Eternal Space Travel - 🚀."
Mr. Menkes' flight message on his future Celestis Memorial Spaceflight will be, "ALWAYS be READY for TAKEOFF."
Contact us today for more information about prearranging.
