Disposal of the dead is always a problem. In many countries, space for burial it at a premium especially for city dwellers. The rituals , surrounding death, proscribed by religion of practice necessitated by hot climes demand early burial to prevent distress through early decomposition and the inevitable sequelae of odour and possible infection.

Though we may question the apparently lax regulation on the scattering of cremains, in a popular park, at the local football pitch or perhaps into the sea just off a favoured holiday resort, our earthly remains can now find a more direct route to the heavens.

It is reported in Pharos International, the Journal of The Cremation Society of Great Britain, that a young entrepreneur is  developing a new ‘end of life celebration’ involving sending cremains into space in nano-spacecraft. His company aims to price the service competitively with graveyard slots in London that have headstones, and to go into partnership with funeral directors and crematoriums.

(Pharos International Autumn 2012, 14-9).

More space junk, perhaps? Or a fast track to heaven?