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My remains … in spaaaaaaace!

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The subject of what to do with my remains after I shuffle off this mortal coil came up in conversation with family today. I figured I’d best get my intentions for disposal made known so that it can be carried out according to my wishes.

In short, I want my remains shot out into space to travel the same path the Voyager probe took. Voyager 1 or Voyager 2, either one works for me. If they aren’t shot into space, I want them to be cremated. I figure if the rocket my remains are on blows up in the process, I still get cremated so win-win. However, in any case, please make absolutely sure I’m dead before carrying out these final wishes.

Now, when I had my will drawn up, the lawyer would not put my desire to have my remains shot into space into the document. This is my public declaration of my intentions.

But, James, how can you afford to have your remains shot into space, you may ask? I’m glad you asked. I have two ideas.

Idea number one – sell slots on my spacecraft to carry scientific experiments. Yes, the Voyager probes collected much data on their way through the solar system, but there is always more data to be collected. Either there are experiments that couldn’t be done when the original Voyager missions were launched in 1977 because the technology wasn’t ready yet, or things have been discovered since then that need more or new data to be collected. Maybe set up an auction or something for agencies to bid on getting their experiment onboard.

Idea number two – crowdfunding. Raise the money through one of the many crowdfunding platforms. For different tiers of support, backers can get their name put on a plaque or otherwise placed on the craft when it is shot into space. Or maybe they can send a memento into space. I’m open to suggestions. If people can payout $45 million for Brandon Sanderson novels, or $4 million for the MCDM Role-playing Game, or millions for bringing back Reading Rainbow or Veronica Mars, they’d be willing to be part of a great space adventure like this.

Or I suppose you could combine the two methods and crowdfund the project and various reward tiers would be getting slots on the craft for scientific experiments. Best of both worlds.

Of course, if my writing gets as popular as Brandon Sanderson, I might be able to fund the entire project myself. If you haven’t bought my first book, Arthur Mace, Medieval Gumshoe why not pick up a copy today and help me get to space?

It’d be nice if any data sent back could be made freely available to the general public, whether of a scientific mindframe or not. I can’t imagine that there would be any top-secret classified projects on my craft, but you never know. But if possible, try to play nice and share the data freely with everyone.

There it is, my intentions for disposal of my remains.

If you’d like to support my efforts, why not buy me a chocolate chip cookie through my Ko-Fi page? https://ko-fi.com/jhusum

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