Plans for Friend's Final Rites Are Out of This World

Daniel Wilson’s cremated remains will be sent into orbit in a final tribute. (Photo: GoFundMe.com)

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The remains of a southeast Michigan man who was fascinated by mankind’s journey into and continued exploration of space will spend eternity there.

At least, that’s the plan David Zabihaylo of Ferndale has come up with to honor his best friend, 34-year-old Daniel Wilson, who died unexpectedly in his sleep two weeks ago, the Detroit Free Press reports.

Zabihaylo, 33, got the go-ahead for the final send-off from his buddy’s family and contacted Elysium Space, which offers memorial spaceflights.

The small memorial capsule will contain about a gram of Wilson’s ashes and will be launched into orbit with a rocket. When the capsule breaks up, it “will look like a shooting star,” Zabihaylo said. “It’s kind of poetic.”

To further memorialize Wilson and honor “his passion, excitement and wonder of what’s beyond our little blue marble,” Zabihaylo wrote on a page on www.GoFundMe.com – To Boldly Go … to Space Camp! – friends established a scholarship fund to raise money to send children to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center Space Camp.

The camp provides a “real astronaut training experience,” Zabihaylo said. It costs $1,000 for the weeklong experience, and by Sunday night, $9,000 had been raised. That means the dream of space camp will be a reality for at least nine children.

“He just really had this beautiful love of space and science, and from there I got the idea it was really the perfect way to honor him,” said Ashley Woods, Wilson’s girlfriend. “I think of those ... kids getting to have an opportunity he never did.”

Wilson reportedly set his alarm early so he wouldn’t miss rocket launches, and was a fierce advocate for funding of space exploration programs.

Zabihaylo described his friend as “legitimately the happiest person I’ve ever known. ... a big, tall guy – but his personality was way bigger.”

“In his honor, we want to find the next generation of potential astronauts and the best way we know how is to help curious, excited kids make it to Space Camp,” Zabihaylo wrote on the GoFundMe page.

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