American Indian tribe futilely objects to lunar mission, calling moon burials a 'profound desecration'

A spaceship carrying the means for NASA's first lunar mission since the 1970s was fired into space early Monday morning from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. While many have lauded this testament to the indefatigable nature of American ingenuity and curiosity, an American Indian group raised a last-minute stink over the long-known destination of the ship's inert crewmembers.

The Navajo Nation claimed ahead of the launch that the release of the human remains currently onboard the ship onto the lunar surface will amount to a sacrilege.

Rocket smoke and human ashes

The United Launch Alliance is a joint venture between Boeing Defense, Lockheed Martin Space, and Space & Security, which caters to the Pentagon and NASA. At 2:18 a.m. on Monday, the ULA successfully launched its next-generation Vulcan Centaur rocket.

The Vulcan Centaur carried two payloads into space: Astrobotic's Peregrine Lunar Lander, as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payloads Services initiative, headed for the moon; and the Celestis Memorial Spaceflights deep space Voyager mission, known as the Enterprise Flight. Human remains are contained in both payloads.

The Peregrine lander, six feet by eight feet, which was assembled in Pittsburgh, is packed full of 20 payloads from seven nations and 16 commercial customers. Most critically, it contains NASA instruments for a scientific mission, such as a laser retroreflector array to pinpoint the lander's location; a neutron spectrometer system for detecting water on the moon's surface; and a linear energy transfer spectrometer to collect information about radiation and solar events on the moon.

"The first CLPS launch has sent payloads on their way to the Moon – a giant leap for humanity as we prepare to return to the lunar surface for the first time in over half a century," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.

The Peregrine lander separated from the rocket about 50 minutes after launch, around 500 km above the Earth. It is now proceeding toward its lunar destination, which it is scheduled to reach on Feb. 23.

"Peregrine powered on, acquired a signal with Earth, and is now moving through space on its way to the Moon," Astrobotic CEO John Thornton said in a statement. "These successes bring us one step closer to seven nations landing on the Moon, six of which have never been to the Moon before."

The Enterprise Flight, meanwhile, will be flung beyond the Earth-moon system by the Centaur upper stage. The Enterprise Flight contains the cremated remains or DNA of hundreds of individuals including "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry and his wife, Majel Roddenberry; "Star Trek" actors DeForest Kelley, Nichelle Nichols, and their heroic World War II veteran co-star James Doohan; Apollo 14 mission scientist Phil Chapman; and painter Luise Clayborn Kaish.

Unlike the 268 titanium capsules set to drift aimlessly through the cosmos, over 60 capsules containing DNA or cremated remains will be dumped on the northeastern part of the moon via the Peregrine lander "as a permanent tribute to the intrepid souls who never stopped reaching for the stars," according to the company's website.

Lunar burial

America' largest Indian group raised a fuss with the U.S. Department of Transportation and NASA late last week, presuming the supremacy of their view of human remains as violative and unsuccessfully demanding a postponement of the launch.

Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren noted in a statement Friday that "the sacredness of the moon is deeply embedded in the spirituality and heritage of many Indigenous cultures, including our own."

Nygren wrote, "The placement of human remains on the moon is a profound desecration of this celestial body revered by our people. This act disregards past agreements and promises of respect and consultation between NASA and the Navajo Nation."

"As stewards of our culture and traditions, it is our responsibility to voice our grievances when actions are taken that could desecrate sacred spaces and disregard deeply held cultural beliefs," continued the Indian leader. "Our request for consultation is rooted in a desire to ensure that our cultural practices, especially those related to the moon and the treatment of the deceased, are respected. The moon holds a sacred place in Navajo cosmology. The suggestion of transforming it into a resting place for human remains is deeply disturbing and unacceptable to our people and many other tribal nations."

Pre-empting possible efforts to colonize the moon, Nygren added, "The moon is not a place for human remains. We call upon NASA to act accordingly and to work with us to protect our sacred sites and cultural heritage, not just on Earth."

Nygren did not specify in his statement what other planetoids or cosmic regions might also be off-limits for human burial.

Celestis CEO Charles Chafer told CNN, "We are aware of the concerns expressed by Mr. Nygren, but do not find them substantive."

"We reject the assertion that our memorial spaceflight mission desecrates the moon," said Chafer. "Just as permanent memorials for deceased are present all over planet Earth and not considered desecration, our memorial on the moon is handled with care and reverence, is a permanent monument that does not intentionally eject flight capsules on the moon. It is a touching and fitting celebration for our participants — the exact opposite of desecration, it is a celebration."

John Thornton of Astrobotic suggested it was awfully late in the game to begin kvetching about the details of the mission, intimating that Nygren had roughly eight years to raise his concerns.

"I've been disappointed that this conversation came up so late in the game," Thornton told CNN. "I would have liked to have had this conversation a long time ago. We announced the first payload manifest of this nature to our mission back in 2015. A second in 2020. We really are trying to do the right thing and I hope we can find a good path forward with Navajo Nation."

Joel Kearns, NASA deputy associate administrator for exploration, made clear that this was a private mission.

"We recognize that some non-NASA commercial payloads can be a cause for concern to some communities, and those communities may not understand that these missions are commercial. They're not US government missions," said Kearns.

"American companies bringing equipment and cargo and payloads to the moon is a totally new industry — a nascent industry — where everyone is learning," continued Kearns. "We take concerns expressed from the Navajo Nation very, very seriously."

While everyone appears to be taking the concerns seriously, Chafer underscored, "No one, and no religion, owns the moon."

"If the beliefs of the world's multitude of religions were considered, it's quite likely that no missions would ever be approved. Simply put, we do not and never have let religious beliefs dictate humanity's space efforts. There is not and should not be a religious test," added Chafer.

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June 7 Live Broadcast: Vulcan Cert-1 Flight Readiness Firing (FRF)youtu.be