Topics: International Space Station, Science, Space, Celebrity
William Shatner has become the face of a new company that will send your DNA to the moon to achieve a ‘type of immortality’.
The Star Trek actor, 92, has invested in Houston-based startup Space Crystals, which is offering everyday people the chance to have their DNA sent into space - provided they’re happy to stump up $150,000 (£114,582).
The Immortalize Me program involves people having their DNA grown into a pair of crystals - one of these crystals is then given to the customer on Earth, while the other will be sent via a spaceship to the moon.
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Speaking outside Hollywood’s Chinese Theatre this week, Shatner said: “I’m going to die, and I’m going to disappear. What can I do?
“Here we have the possibility of a type of immortality.”
As well as investing in the company, the 92-year-old was also Space Crystals’ first paying customer, meaning if you do decide to send your DNA to the moon, it will be in good company.
For those wondering how it works, customers who part with $150k send in a strand of their hair, through a special DNA kit that is sent out to them.
The DNA will then be extracted and placed into the crystalline solution, which will grow and develop into a crystal. This crystal will then be flown to the International Space Station inside a lunar time capsule. It's then transported to the moon, meaning a very small part of the customer is up there for good.
Company founder Kevin Heath said: “Our clients can hold their keepsake crystal in their hand, look up in the night sky and know a part of themselves is there, tied together through space and time in what we call the crystal connection.”
And if you’re keen - then you might want to sign up sooner rather than later, because the company has strict limits on how many DNA crystals it can fly to the moon.
Speaking last October, Heath said: “Our target is to fly 260 customers. The maximum we can possibly fly in the Lunar Time Capsule is 522.”
It’s not clear whether the DNA could one day be extracted - perhaps by future generations or alien overlords that might have taken over our planet by then.
“We’ll see in 5,000 to 10,000 years when these things finally get opened by us or aliens,” Heath added. “Did it work?”
