INDIANAPOLIS — In death, an Indianapolis woman’s lifelong dream will be honored as her cremated remains are flown into space where she will become one with the very stars she once dared dream of traveling.
Living through the era of the space race, Carlotta Arthur remembers her mother Clarice Terry Brown as an adventurer and risk-taker who was drawn to the vast cosmos in the heavens above. She loved science fiction, her favorite movie being 2001: A Space Odyssey, and she dreamed of being Lt. Uhura from Star Trek.
“Mom settled on a more traditional career and her space dreams remained just dreams,” her daughter reflected, stating her mother worked in Indianapolis for nearly 30 years as a federal government service worker.
But now those dreams of space travel will be realized as Clarice Brown will have a portion of her cremated remains launched into space on Celestis’ upcoming memorial spaceflight known as Aurora Flight.
“I can think of no better tribute for all our mom gave my siblings and me by simply daring to be herself, than to finally realize her dream of traveling ‘to the stars.’ It will be an honor and a privilege to share stories and images of my mom’s Celestis flight with family and friends, and show them her space capsule,” Carlotta wrote in tribute to her mother.
Brown’s love of space was passed down to her daughter Carlotta who earned a Metallurgical Engineering degree from Purdue and currently works for the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine where she has worked with NASA.
“Thanks in no small part to mom, my dream of becoming a rocket scientist actually came true in a small way. I dedicate my work in this area to her, and she remains an inspiration to me always,” she wrote.
The Aurora Flight is set to depart on Nov. 30 out of New Mexico’s Spaceport America and serves as the ninth collaboration between Celestis and UP Aerospace. A Space Loft XL rocket carrying the Celesist cremation memorials will be launched into space where the remains will travel briefly before returning safely to Earth and being reunited with loved ones as a permanent keepsake.
“We are honored to be selected to provide our Celestis service for Mrs. Brown,” said Charles M. Chafer, Celestis co-founder & CEO. “Her lifelong interest in travel and space will be well celebrated with her memorial spaceflight.”
Celestis is the first company to provide memorial space flights which launch loves ones’ remains into space and allow family members to track their progress on a variety of different flights including deep space or Earth’s orbit. Memorial flights start at $2,495 and run upwards of $12,500 or more for the most expensive package, where remains are launched into deep space on an infinite journey.
Reservations for the next flight, Earth Rise, will be posted soon, according to Celestis. For more information on the company and its memorial flights, visit www.celestis.com.
