Navajo Nation objects to a plan to send human remains to the moon : NPR

A plan to deposit some human remains on the moon as part of a rocket launch that blasted off early Monday morning is prompting criticism from the head of the Navajo Nation, who says it would be a desecration of the celestial body sacred to many tribes.

Buu Nygren, president of the Navajo Nation, urged NASA or other government officials in a statement last week to address the tribe’s concerns before the launch.

“The moon holds a sacred place in Navajo cosmology,” he wrote. “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.”

The mission is not being run by NASA but rather a private company, the first time an American firm would land a craft on the moon.

Peregrine Mission One launched into space on a United Launch Alliance rocket transporting a lunar lander made by the company Astrobotic, which itself will carry multiple payloads to the moon.

The Peregrine lander is expected to touch down on the moon on Feb. 23.

via www.npr.org

This whole mission is very weird. I think the Navajos have a point.