The US is all set to send DNA samples of four former Presidents to space. According to sources close to the White House, a rocket shall carry the hair samples and remains of George Washington (February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799), Dwight David ‘Ike’ Eisenhower (October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969), John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963) and Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) to space.

There is nothing new in the practice of burying bodily remains of human beings in space. Celestis, Inc., a Texas-based company, has special expertise in this regard, as it launches cremated human remains into space, a procedure known as a Space Burial. Celestis has announced that it would bury hair samples of four former US Presidents in space as a part of celebrations of the President’s Day, officially George Washington’s Birthday at the Federal Governmental level marked on the third Monday of February every year. It has further announced that hairs of those Presidents would be sent to space as their DNA samples.

While Washington had served as the first US President from 1789 to 1797, 34th President Dwight D Eisenhower was in Office from 1953 to 1961. John F Kennedy had served as the 35th President of the US from 1961 until his assassination in 1963, and 40th President Reagan held the Office from 1981 to 1989.

According to the top Celestis management, it has been planning this particular expedition for a long time. Keeping that in mind, the remains of the four Presidents were preserved in a climate-controlled environment. In fact, Louis Mushro, a celebrity hair collector, had donated the DNA samples of those leaders to Celestis. Furthermore, Celestis has certificates of authenticity of the DNA samples. Speaking at a press conference, Celestis co-founder and CEO Charles Chafer recently said: “These hair samples have been in a climate-controlled facility for several years in preparation for this mission. By adding the DNA of these American icons to USS Enterprise (a starship), we establish a precursor for future human missions, and add to the historical record of human exploration of deep space.“

A ULA Vulcan Rocket, with the DNA samples of four Presidents, shall lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida by the end of 2023. Celestis has also decided to launch two artificial satellites and a lunar lander from this station.

Meanwhile, ULA President and CEO Tory Bruno said that the hair-raising journey of the Celestis spacecraft would be a “tremendous honour (for ULA) to work with Celestis to launch these four esteemed US Presidents on our Vulcan launch vehicle“.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das