You might not make it to heaven in the afterlife, but you sure can go as far as the moon. Celestial funerals are now a possibility, thanks to San Francisco startup Elysium Space. For a ginormous fee of about $12,000, the company will privately transport your cremated remains to the moon!
在來(lái)生里，你不一定去得了天堂，但你現(xiàn)在卻能到月球那么遠(yuǎn)的地方。有了舊金山的“極樂世界”公司，“天葬”服務(wù)現(xiàn)在已成為可能。花費(fèi)12000美元，該公司便會(huì)單獨(dú)將您火化后的遺物運(yùn)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 commemorate their departed loved ones every night through the everlasting splendour and soft illumination of the Earth’s closest companion: the moon,” they stated in a press release.
“極樂世界”公司最初由美國(guó)航空航天局（NASA）前任工程師托馬斯?西威特創(chuàng)立，該公司將宇宙專家和喪葬專家集合起來(lái)，定制提供這種特殊服務(wù)。“很多家庭現(xiàn)在就有這種歷史性的珍貴機(jī)會(huì)，來(lái)紀(jì)念他們逝去的親人，每晚向外看看月亮，這個(gè)離地球最近的伴侶，看看它永恒且柔和的光輝。”他們?cè)谛侣劙l(fā)布會(huì)上強(qiáng)調(diào)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 batch of ashes will travel to the moon on Griffin Lander spacecraft – Astrobotic’s inaugural lunar mission – in 2017.
雖然此公司2013年才成立，在他們與國(guó)際空間物流公司Astrobotic Technology達(dá)成秘密協(xié)議后，今年八月推出此項(xiàng)服務(wù)。他們現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)開始接受訂單，第一批骨灰會(huì)于2017年通過Astrobotic的首次登月任務(wù)，到達(dá)月球上的格里芬著陸航天器。

According to Civeit, the families who are opting 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 briefly sent into orbit and return to Earth as a bright streak across the atmosphere. But then they were approached with an unusual request by US Army infantry soldier Steven Jenks.
西威特表示，選擇這項(xiàng)服務(wù)的家庭通常都對(duì)太空和夜空有著特殊的感情。事實(shí)上，這也是這個(gè)點(diǎn)子最初萌發(fā)的背景。“極樂世界”最初的計(jì)劃其實(shí)是開始一項(xiàng)名為“流星紀(jì)念”的服務(wù)，將骨灰運(yùn)送到軌道然后劃過大氣層降落到地球上。但后來(lái)美國(guó)步兵史蒂芬?詹克思找到他們，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.
詹克思的母親因?yàn)榉伟┒x世，之后，他想將他母親的遺體送到月球上，因?yàn)樵铝潦撬麄兡缸忧榈奶厥庀笳鳌Ｋ?jīng)常給他在信里寫道：“不管你感覺多寂寞，離我多么遠(yuǎn)，別忘了時(shí)常抬頭看看月亮，就知道我一直在你身邊。我對(duì)你的愛，好比從地球到月亮再回來(lái)那么綿長(zhǎng)。愛你的，媽媽。”所以后來(lái)當(dāng)他知道Astrobotic公司準(zhǔn)備開始大批運(yùn)送物質(zhì)到月球時(shí)，他詢問了能否將她媽媽的骨灰一起帶上月球。

“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.
“這時(shí)間特別合適，”西威特解釋道。“史蒂芬向Astrobotic講述了他動(dòng)人的故事，希望他們能將她的骨灰?guī)显虑颉ｋm然Astrobotic那時(shí)并不向私人提供此項(xiàng)服務(wù)，但我們已經(jīng)與其簽訂過合同，所以我們很榮幸能讓史蒂芬的愿望成真。”后來(lái)，史蒂芬知道他母親最后的安息地在月球也非常開心。“我知道她一直在默默注視著我們家，可能這樣他們也就感覺沒那么寂寞，”他向我們說道。

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 kit 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.
第一批報(bào)名的有約50人，“月球紀(jì)念”大概會(huì)花費(fèi)9950美元。不過在那之后，價(jià)格一路飆升到11950美元。已經(jīng)報(bào)名預(yù)定的家庭會(huì)收到一套工具，里面包括可刻字的金屬盒，可以在里面放置大約一克的火化遺體。在2017年下半年，大約100位人的骨灰將被送到月球。不過流星項(xiàng)目就要便宜很多，花費(fèi)大約1990美元。該公司準(zhǔn)備在這個(gè)秋天向太空發(fā)射100枚骨灰膠囊，他們會(huì)繞著地球軌道航行數(shù)月，然后下降，在大氣層中燃燒，就像流星一樣。

“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 poetic memorial services. The idea that humankind can look up at the Moon and poetically commune with its ancestors is probably as old as the human culture itself.”
“人們?cè)谙氲教諘r(shí)總是想到這種科技，”西威特補(bǔ)充道。“不過，太空有它別的內(nèi)在價(jià)值，比如夜空的美麗，它啟發(fā)我們，讓我們提供這種富有詩(shī)意的紀(jì)念服務(wù)。人們抬抬頭，看看月亮，與他們的祖先交流的想法可能已經(jīng)和人類文化一樣古老了。”

Once this service “takes off”, the company has plans to extend beyond the solar system. They want to launch a Milky 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.
一旦這項(xiàng)服務(wù)“起飛”，此公司計(jì)劃將服務(wù)范圍擴(kuò)展到整個(gè)太陽(yáng)系。他們想開展一個(gè)銀河紀(jì)念服務(wù)，將人類遺體送到更遠(yuǎn)的外太空。雖然發(fā)射的日期和價(jià)格目前還未定，不過考慮到目前流星服務(wù)項(xiàng)目已經(jīng)開始盈利，估計(jì)此類計(jì)劃也離我們不遠(yuǎn)了。

Vocabulary

ginormous: 極大的，浩大的
commune with: 與…談心

英文來(lái)源：odditycentral.com
譯者：張驍
審校&編輯：丹妮