History Main / BurialInSpace

[[folder:Film]]

*** Clyde Tombaugh has [[UpToEleven gone one better]]. Some of the ashes of the discoverer of Pluto are aboard the New Horizons spacecraft, which flew past Pluto in 2015 on its way out of our Solar System. Cue the jokes about the [=IAU=] [[PlutoIsExpendable delisting Pluto]] so he could power New Horizons by spinning in his grave.

* ''Fanfic/RocketshipVoyager''. For pragmatic reasons DisposingOfABody is done separately from the funeral rites; Captain Janeway has to be reminded that they have bodies to 'bury', as the funeral took place over a week ago. The bodies of those killed are fastened outside the hull (to avoid decomposing gasses) until it's time to fire up the torchship, whereupon they're cremated by the exhaust plume (it's not pragmatic to HurlItIntoTheSun when the sun could be billions of miles away) or [[HumanResources recycled as reaction mass]]. When one body breaks free before it can be cremated, the Chief Engineer hushes it up rather than admit the corpse is adrift in space.

%%* ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'' is undoubtedly the most famous example, and is TropeCodifier, although from this list it is not the oldest. The coffin/torpedo/[[Series/{{Seinfeld}} giant sunglasses case]] was actually fired ''at a planet''; also a major part of the set-up for ''Film/StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock'' %%So what makes this "the most famous" example?

%%* ''Series/BattlestarGalactica1978'' also did it a number of times. One notable occasion occurred in the episode "Take the ''Celestra''", where an elderly captain had made a HeroicSacrifice during the attempt to retake the titular factory ship from mutineers. %%What was that occasion?

* Burial in the Sun? From Earth, it would take a delta-''v'' (change in velocity, usually written as ∆''v'') of 26.3 km/sec to de-orbit into the Sun from Earth's orbit. To compare, that's 58% more ∆''v'' than the 16.6 km/sec required to achieve a velocity that would leave the Solar System from Earth.

* All this being said, as of 2022, no human has ever needed to be buried in space after dying in space.[[note]]Only three people--the crew of Soyuz 11 in June 1971--have ever died ''in'' space. But they were inside a spacecraft returning to Earth, and all three were buried at the Kremlin Wall Necropolis in Moscow.[[/note]] Hopefully it stays that way for as long as possible. But as more humans venture into space, and more easily, it could very well happen for real someday. Debate is currently ongoing about what to do if someone dies during a long-duration mission away from Earth. Procedures are hazy on what NASA, Roscosmos, ESA, or CNSA would do if an astronaut, cosmonaut, or taikonaut died in Earth orbit--particularly on a space station--but the presumption is that the deceased's remains would be returned to Earth, likely contained within a spacesuit aboard a returning spacecraft.

* All this being said, as of 2022, no human has ever needed to be buried in space after dying in space.[[note]]Only three people--the crew of Soyuz 11 in June 1971--have ever died ''in'' space. But they were inside a spacecraft returning to Earth, and all three were buried at the Kremlin Wall Necropolis in Moscow.[[/note]] Hopefully it stays that way for as long as possible. But as more humans venture into space, and more easily, it could very well happen for real someday. Debate is currently ongoing about what to do if someone dies during a long-duration mission away from Earth. Procedures are hazy on what NASA, Roscosmos, ESA, or CNSA would do if an astronaut, cosmonaut, or taikonaut died in Earth orbit--particularly on a space station--but the presumption is that the deceased's remains would be returned to Earth, likely contained within a spacesuit aboard a manned spacecraft.

* All this being said, as of 2022, no human has ever needed to be buried in space after dying in space.[[note]]Only three people--the crew of Soyuz 11 in June 1971--have ever died ''in'' space. But they were inside a spacecraft returning to Earth, and all three were buried at the Kremlin Wall Necropolis in Moscow.[[/note]] Hopefully it stays that way for as long as possible. But as more humans venture into space, and more easily, it could very well happen for real someday.
* Burial in the Sun? From Earth, it would take a delta-''v'' (change in velocity, usually written as ∆''v'') of 26.3 km/sec to go from Earth's orbit around the Sun to a perihelion below the Sun's surface. To compare, that's more than 50% more ∆''v'' than the 16.6 km/sec required to achieve a velocity that would leave the Solar System from Earth's orbit.

* During the Gemini program, the question was raised as to what action to take if an astronaut died during an EVA, since it would be impossible for his colleague to fit the body back into the cramped cabin. The initial instruction was to ''re-enter with the hatch open, towing the body behind the capsule on its safety tether.'' Only after it was pointed out that this would result in the capsule burning up was the decision changed to "Okay, cut him loose." If that were to have happened, as noted above, the body would've eventually re-entered on its own, likely within a few weeks.

* Burial in the Sun? From Earth, it would take a delta-''v'' (change in velocity, usually written as ∆''v'') of 26.3 km/sec to go from Earth's orbit around the Sun to a perihelion below the Sun's surface. That's more than 50% more ∆''v'' than the 16.6 km/sec required to achieve a velocity that would leave the Solar System from Earth's orbit.

* All this being said, as of 2022, no human has ever needed to be buried in space after dying in space.[[note]]Only three people, the crew of Soyuz 11 in June 1971, have ever died ''in'' space. But they were inside a spacecraft returning to Earth, and all three were buried at the Kremlin Wall Necropolis in Moscow.[[/note]] Hopefully it stays that way for as long as possible. But as more humans venture into space, and more easily, it could very well happen for real someday.

* ''Series/RedDwarf''
** When the "prime" Rimmer takes up the torch of the dimension-hopping space hero "Ace Rimmer" he and Lister place the previous Ace's holo-bee in a small capsule and shoot it into a planetary ring composed of similar holo-bee coffins.
%%** The 'coffins' were far smaller and contained ashes. %%Where were those coffins? Where did they go?!

* Apollo 13, almost. Plans for a burial-at-space, similar to a burial-at-sea, were made to be performed in case of a disaster, but fortunately, the crew survived. If the unthinkable did happen, they would probably have read out an edited version of the [[CrazyPrepared eulogy written for Apollo 11]].

---> --'''William Safire''', speech drafted for '''President Nixon''' "in the event of a Moon Disaster". Before the speech, the president was to telephone each widow-to-be, and after the speech, communication to the Apollo Vehicle was to be shut off and a clergyman was to conduct the Burial-at-Sea liturgy.

* A portion of Creator/GeneRoddenberry's ashes were put in a capsule and launched into low earth orbit, where it stayed for a few months before re-entering the atmosphere.
* James Doohan's ashes were also launched into space, but returned to Earth much sooner.
* A portion of Gene Shoemaker's ashes were placed on the Lunar Prospector probe that was deliberately crashed into the Moon in 1999, making Shoemaker the only human to be buried on another world.
* Clyde Tombaugh has [[UpToEleven gone one better]]. Some of the ashes of the discoverer of Pluto are aboard the New Horizons spacecraft, which flew past Pluto in 2015 before leaving the solar system. Cue the jokes about the [=IAU=] [[PlutoIsExpendable delisting Pluto]] so he could power New Horizons by spinning in his grave.

* During the Gemini program, the question was raised as to what action to take if an astronaut died during an EVA, since it would be impossible for his colleague to fit the body back into the cramped cabin. The initial instruction was to ''re-enter with the hatch open, towing the body behind the capsule on its safety tether.'' Only after it was pointed out that this would result in the capsule burning up was the decision changed to "Okay, cut him loose."

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

* ''[[Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato Uchuu Senkan Yamato]]'': there are at least two space funerals held after major battles, both to some degree censored in [[{{Macekre}} Star Blazers]]. Long lines of space coffins are set to drift in space, presumably forever.

[[folder: Comic Book ]]

[[folder: Eastern Animation ]]
* Silbad in ''Animation/TimeMasters'' after DiabolusExMachina kicks in. His short funeral is looked over by one of the bizarre aliens that caused his {{temporal paradox}} death.

[[folder: Fan Works ]]
* ''Fanfic/RocketshipVoyager''. For pragmatic reasons DisposingOfABody is done separately from the funeral rites; Captain Janeway has to be reminded that they have bodies to 'bury', as the funeral took place over a week ago. The bodies of those killed are fastened outside the hull (to avoid decomposing gasses) until it's time to fire up the torchship, whereupon they're cremated by the exhaust plume (it's not pragmatic to HurlItIntoTheSun when the sun could be billions of miles away) or [[HumanResources recycled as reaction mass]]. When one body breaks free before it can be cremated, the Chief Engineer hushes it up rather than admit the corpse is adrift in space.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Film ]]
* ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'' is undoubtedly the most famous example, and is TropeCodifier, although from this list it is not the oldest. The coffin/torpedo/[[Series/{{Seinfeld}} giant sunglasses case]] was actually fired ''at a planet''; also a major part of the set-up for ''Film/StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock''
* Dizzy Flores in the ''Film/StarshipTroopers'' film. Mostly because [[NominalImportance she's a main character]]; none of the thousands of unnamed soldiers who die onscreen are ever seen getting such a lavish service. Her funeral serves mainly as a vehicle for Rico's CharacterDevelopment by demonstrating that he finally understands the concept of sacrifice during war.
* ''Film/TheBlackHole'' has the "humanoid robots" perform one of these for one of their own, which is another clue towards TheReveal. The coffin is shot into the black hole rather than the usual sun.

* ''Film/EnemyMine'' has this in one scene, but with a twist of WarIsHell impersonality: the casualties from the Drac War are so numerous, that the coffins are constantly being loaded into the airlock by an ''automatic conveyor belt'', stopping just long enough for the bored technicians on duty to check the deceased's religion and play the appropriate prerecorded last rites.
* Not shown, but is a plot point in ''Film/{{Outland}}''. Marshal O'Niel wants to know where the bodies of the miners who've died after going crazy have gone. He's told they're taken away on the shuttle and ThrownOutTheAirlock halfway to the space station. "Burial at sea, and all that." Of course, this is a useful way of [[DestroyTheEvidence ensuring there are no bodies around to autopsy]].
* Yondu receives a version of this at the end of ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2'' after he [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifices]] himself to save Peter, seemingly a form of cremation that sweeps his multi-colored ashes/embers out into space. To the surprise of the Guardians the rest of the Ravagers come to celebrate his life with space fireworks.

[[folder: Literature ]]
* The UrExample was dreamed up by (who else?) Creator/JulesVerne, whose heroes bury a canine astronaut in ''Around The Moon''.

** In Heinlein's later novel ''Literature/TimeEnoughForLove'', Lazarus Long discusses how he did this to Andy Libby after the unfortunate fellow was mauled by a bear. Later, in ''Literature/TheNumberOfTheBeast'', he uses TimeTravel to go back and retrieve Andy's corpse so it can be rejuvenated.
* In Creator/AlastairReynolds' ''[[Literature/RevelationSpaceSeries Revelation Space]]'' universe, one standard way to inter bodies is to accelerate in a spaceship until you're traveling as close to the speed of light as you get, then shoot the body out in front of the ship. This is referred to as "burial at ''[[{{Pun}} c]]''".

* In Creator/CJCherryh's ''Literature/TheFadedSun'', this is the preferred burial of warrior-caste mri. In the whole ''Literature/AllianceUnion'' universe, being sent to the sun seems to be the preferred burial method among those identify themselves as spacers.

** The drifting coffins variety seems to be the most popular version of this trope when a pilot's body can be recovered, appearing in several {{Meaningful Funeral}}s. They're often [[TractorBeam tractored]] out into space and nudged towards the star. When a body ''can't'' be recovered, as happened to [[Literature/XWingSeries Jesmin Ackbar]], a torpedo is used as a symbolic stand-in.

* In the ''[[Literature/HonorHarrington Honorverse]]'', Grayson Armsmen are traditionally buried where they fall. When one of her armsmen dies aboard ship (in ''At All Costs''), they eject him into space.

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]
* In the episode "Specimen: Unknown" of the original ''Series/TheOuterLimits1963'', Lt. Howard (uncredited: Creator/DabneyColeman) dies after being infected by a space-borne fungus and is given one of these by the other crewman of the space station on which he had been serving.

** The 'coffins' were far smaller and contained ashes.

** Most memorably done in the episode "Ceremonies of Light and Dark", wherein those crew who died in the previous episode's battle were given a mass funeral, with a whole line of space coffins being shot at the star Epsilon Eridani, escorted part of the way by a formation of Starfury space fighters (with one fighter peeling off as part of a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missing_man_formation "Missing Man" formation]]). Worth noting, Commander Ivanova appeared to have used her PhotographicMemory to [[TheDeadHaveNames memorize the list of names]] to be read at the memorial, rather than reading from notes.

* In the reimagined ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'', there are several funerals after which the bodies are ejected into space from a Viper launch tube.

** It can be said that the whole Fleet receives one in the final episode along with Sam by way of being [[HurlItIntoTheSun flown into Sol]].

* The original ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|1978}}'' also did it a number of times. One notable occasion occurred in the episode "Take the ''Celestra''", where an elderly captain had made a HeroicSacrifice during the attempt to retake the titular factory ship from mutineers.

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* This trope is mentioned in the ''VideoGame/ChzoMythos'', where one of the astronauts mentions that it was popular in the 21st century for people to send their remains into space. Too bad the Space Coffin ''they'' stumble across contains the remains of John [=Defoe=].
* Symbolically happens to Commander Shepard in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', after GoingDownWithTheShip [[SpaceIsAnOcean In Space]].
* In a twist, ''Videogame/SunlessSkies'' has the poor of London having to resort to such burials, with their coffins just being dumped out in space to float forever in whole fields of glassy debris called Bully's Acres. Those with better means actually get buried in a particular bit of floating terrain turned into a graveyard.

[[folder: Web Comics]]

* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "The Sting" did this referencing ''Film/{{Star Trek II|The Wrath of Khan}}''.
* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Unlimited''. After Wonder Woman stops the Legion of Doom from stealing the Viking Prince's body, she gives him a Viking funeral... IN SPACE! This has the very practical goal of either having the sun's fusion destroy the body, or at least keep the Legion from another attempt.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003'', the Fugitoid gets this treatment after he makes his heroic sacrifice at the end of the "Worlds Collide" arc.

* Parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode where Stewie's teddy bear is accidentally shipped away, and as a result he and Brian try to get it back.

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* Clyde Tombaugh has [[UpToEleven gone one better]]. Some of the ashes of the discoverer of Pluto are aboard the New Horizons spacecraft, due to fly past Pluto in 2015 before leaving the solar system. Cue the jokes about the [=IAU=] [[PlutoIsExpendable delisting Pluto]] so he could power New Horizons by spinning in his grave.

** [[Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato2199 The remake]] splits the difference, with a short scene in which three enemy personnel from a BoardingParty who were killed in action aboard the ''Yamato'' are [[DueToTheDead honourably buried according to proper custom]] at the same time as the ship's own dead. It fits the theme of Gamilon's people being NotSoDifferent and their military commanders being {{Worthy Opponent}}s.

* In the episode "Specimen: Unknown" of the original ''Series/OuterLimits'', Lt. Howard (uncredited: Creator/DabneyColeman) dies after being infected by a space-borne fungus and is given one of these by the other crewman of the space station on which he had been serving.

* In the episode "Specimen: Unknown" of the original ''Series/OuterLimits'', Lt. Howard (uncredited: Creator/DabneyColeman) dies after being infected by a space-borne fungus and is given a space burial by the other crewman of the space station on which he had been serving.

* In the episode "Specimen: Unknown" of the original ''Series/OuterLimits'', Lt. Howard (uncredited: Dabney Coleman" dies after being infected by a space-borne fungus and is given a space burial by the other crewman of the space station on which he had been serving.

* ''Conquest of Space'' (1955). Because his decomposing body would poison the air, a deceased crewman is secured outside the spaceship. Realising the sight of his body drifting outside the viewport is affecting morale, the captain pushes the body off into space after a moving eulogy.

* ''LightNovel/CrestOfTheStars'' has a planet that sends their dead into space on rockets. The protagonists manage to escape said planet by hiding in a coffin.

* ''Rocketship Voyager''. For pragmatic reasons DisposingOfABody is done separately from the funeral rites; Captain Janeway has to be reminded that they have bodies to 'bury', as the funeral took place over a week ago. The bodies of those killed are fastened outside the hull (to avoid decomposing gasses) until it's time to fire up the torchship, whereupon they're cremated by the exhaust plume (it's not pragmatic to HurlItIntoTheSun when the sun could be billions of miles away) or [[HumanResources recycled as reaction mass]]. When one body breaks free before it can be cremated, the Chief Engineer hushes it up rather than admit the corpse is adrift in space.