Many In Arizona Angry Over Plans To Bury El Paso Man On The Moon

Over 27% of Arizona belongs to the Navajo Nation and they're not happy over a plan to bury an El Paso Writer on the moon.

It's not just one El Pasoan headed for the final frontier, the remains and/or DNA from 330 notable Earthlings will soon be either on the moon or in deep space.

Read more and see pics here. This is going to be the longest funeral procession, in terms of distance, ever. The Navajo however, are totally against it.

A bunch of people with deep ties to deep space have the opportunity to be "buried" up there including the El Pasoan who first introduced us to the "final frontier" in 1966.

Gene Roddenbury, creator of the 1960's TV series Star Trek, is among those headed into space along with original Star Trek cast members Michelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura),  James Doohan (Scotty) and DeForest Kelley (Dr. McCoy).

Who Is Being Buried In Space?

330 famous folks in all will take their final trip to the final frontier ... sorry, I had to work in one more final frontier comment, I'll stop now ... along with DNA from JFK, George Washington and Dwight D. Eisenhower.

I get Kennedy, he made sure we put a man on the moon and Washington of course gets props for being POTUS number one. Eisenhower's tie I'm not clear on.

62 of the total 330 peeps will actually be dropped off ON the Moon in a “permanent memorial" called the "Peregrine Lunar Lander". That's what upset some folks.

Why Are Arizonians Mad About The Moon Burials?

The Navajo nation who, (among others), regard the Moon as a sacred place are the largest tribe in the USA. Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said:

"We view it as a part of our spiritual heritage, an object of reverence and respect. The act of depositing human remains and other materials, which could be perceived as discards in any other location, on the moon is tantamount to desecration of this sacred space." - space.com

Needless to say, they find this upsetting. To them, it's like spray painting the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Despite their pleas, the rocket launched January 8th, 2024.

While this wasn't, technically, a NASA mission; the space agency had promised to consult the Navajo before all future Moon visits.

UPDATE: The landing has been aborted due to fuel loss. To me, that's a pretty wild coincidence. Could a higher power have stepped in to thwart this attempted desecration? Hmm ...