Talk:Space burial

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(Copy from Wikipedia:Featured article candidates)

• Stumbled across this one, and I think it's pretty well put together. Thoughts? -Litefantastic 22:08, 22 May 2004 (UTC)
• Object. The article rather messily conflates three things: the rather silly "lipstick-sized container of ashes" affair, which hardly qualifies for the word burial; dead people in space generally; and science-fiction space burial. Someone needs to decide exactly what this article is meant to be about. Also, the lipstick business is taken too much at face value: it's not true that "about 150 people have been buried in space"; they were buried somewhere on the ground and had a small part of their ashes sent into space. Markalexander100 10:28, 23 May 2004 (UTC)
• I would tent to support. (Disclaimer: I wrote most of the article) Burial does not need a complete body to be buried. 1g or 7g is not much, i agree, but the people involved consider it a burial. Full body space burial is currently not practical. The science fiction mentioning fits well, I think. Burial at sea also mentions some fictious characters buried at sea (Note: the article burial at sea also originated from me). The section about space accidents can be removed, but that is only a "see also" section, and not really part of the article. I think the above objections can be overcome. -- Chris 73 | Talk 07:47, 26 May 2004 (UTC)
  • the people involved consider it a burial What, the dead ones? Anyway, astrologers probably consider astrology to be the height of rationality. We need to be a bit more objective. Markalexander100 05:05, 28 May 2004 (UTC)
    • Yes, the dead ones. After all they probably arranged for the procedure before death. I also assume that many of their friends and relatives consider it a burial. Remains of deceased may also be buried in different locations on earth. There are also some cases of empty coffin burials, where no body was recovered. I also know one case where a worker fell in a steel furnace and got completely burned up, and they ended up burying a sample of the steel. I think the quantity of the remains does not decide if it is a burial or not. Using a strict definition of burial, burial in space is probably not a burial, because the remains are not covered with earth (i.e. buried). Same holds for burial at sea. Yet, it is usually called a "burial in space/at sea", so I think the title here is appropriate and objective. I cannot change the burial procedure described by the article, but I am willing to adjust the article if you have specific complaints about the article itself. -- Chris 73 | Talk 06:07, 28 May 2004 (UTC)

(Adjourning to talk page.)Markalexander100 07:13, 28 May 2004 (UTC)

(end of copy)

I have two main issues with the article as it stands.

1. Space burial is not burial, even in the broader sense used in burial at sea. If I am cremated and a small part of my ashes is scatted in the sea, I have not been buried at sea. The same applies to "space burial". The fact that the people who sell this call it burial doesn't mean that we have to accept their terminology at face value.
2. It's not clear what this article is meant to be about. Is it about space burial (as the title says) or is it about the lipstick and ashes business (as the lead says)? If the latter, the sci-fi stuff does not belong in the article. Markalexander100 07:19, 28 May 2004 (UTC)

Judging from what the article says actually happens, maybe it should be "partial mesospheric cremation"? Just kidding. Securiger 07:27, 28 May 2004 (UTC)

If, then it should be "partial mesospheric re-cremation", as they are already cremated ;-) -- Chris 73 | Talk 08:04, 28 May 2004 (UTC)

First of all, I agree that shooting 5g of ashes into space is pretty weird. About your points, I think that thematically the topic belongs together with the Sci-Fi burials. The Sci-Fi section is also only minor compared to the rest of the article. I would also still consider the lipstick and ashes business a burial in a broader sense. The procedure is also referred to as "space burial" by the news, and people looking for information for this topic would probably use similar keywords. The quantity of the remains is not essential for a burial, and people's remains have been buried in more than one grave before, as for example often done in Japan. BTW I have changed the article to emphasize that only a small sample of the ashes is shot into space.

How would you call the procedure? -- Chris 73 | Talk 08:04, 28 May 2004 (UTC)

One more question: Do you think the article merely fails the well-written requirement for featured articles, or do you object the article in generally and feel the need to change the article? If its only not "feature" material in your opinion, then we just wait until the article gets accepted or rejected, and the problem disappears. However, if you think the article has to be changed (i.e. not a burial), then we have a dispute that needs to be solved. Lets hope for the first case ;-) -- Chris 73 | Talk 08:26, 28 May 2004 (UTC)

I think that all our articles should be well-written and NPOV. However, there are one or two others that also aren't. This one wouldn't be top of my list for worrying about if it weren't a featured article candidate. Markalexander100 02:08, 29 May 2004 (UTC)

I would be thrilled if this article becomes a featured one, but if not ... oh well ... doesn't matter. I'll just wait and see. Happy editing -- Chris 73 | Talk 02:22, 29 May 2004 (UTC)

The idea that THIS article should be featured is quite wicked. It is not well written, it does not contain background etcetc. It is just an add for Celestis. I am sorry for the bytes wasted.--80.133.98.142 01:56, 3 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Wasn't it Phillip J. Fry's brother who was burried in space? Alvis 02:15, 15 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Uh uh, apparently Phillip J. Fry's brother had named his son after Phillip J. Fry. That is, Phillip J. Fry's nephew is named after him. But since his brother and nephew looked alike, he didn't realise that until the very end of the episode. Sorry if I spoiled the episode. >_>; 70.106.96.40 03:21, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Futurama's Fry in "The Sting"

In the episode "The Sting", Fry's death and burial is part of a dream sequence. Is it not then a stretch to include that without comment in a list of space burials? Yes, the episode includes a depiction of a space burial, but I don't think the final disposition of Fry's body is part of the canon. -- Ventura 22:47, July 25, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Full Body Burial section

This brief section currently seems like original research. Making predictions (not back by sources) about what may happen "if humans colonize space" runs counter to the idea that Wikipedia is not a crystal ball. -Phoenixrod 04:37, 18 August 2006 (UTC)