Cremated remains of Calgary space fan Tyson Jerrold Sorge launched into space

Calgary-born Tyson Jerrold Sorge loved space so much that when he died, his loved ones paid tribute to him by launching his cremated remains into space early Saturday morning.

At around 12:48 a.m. MT, Sorge's remains were part of a Celestis memorial spaceflight that launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in the California desert.

"Tyson's love of the space program developed early," it says on the Celestis memorial spaceflight website obituary of Sorge, written by his wife Sue. "Some of the highlights of his life would be watching the Atlantis Shuttle launch from Cape Canaveral and touring Johnson Space Centre.

"He was fortunate enough to marry a fellow nerd," it says, continuing, "Who shared his love for all things space, and we spent many a night tracking satellites overhead, watching launches on NASA TV, and arguing over which Star Trek series was the best."

Sorge died in 2022 at the age of 53. He was survived by his wife Sue, his children Orren, Lucie, and Quinn, his siblings Gerarda, Marina, Rudy, Hjalmar, and Liska, their families and by his brother-in-law Clint.

Tyson Jerrold Sorge with his family. (Supplied)

“When you’re diagnosed with cancer at such a young age, you know, you miss out on so many of the things that you had planned to do,” Webber said in an interview with CTV News on Sunday.

“This just was such a fitting thing. It just made so much sense for who he was and what he loved.” 

Sorge studied industrial electronics at SAIT in Calgary, and installed and troubleshooted communication equipment for the mining, oil-and-gas sector working mostly for Mobiltex. He worked on every continent except Antarctica, "in every condition, and made friends around the globe," Sue wrote.

Flight capsules with the ashes of Sorge and others are attached to a satellite that will orbit the Earth for five to 10 years.

“Our participants aren’t just riding on that satellite, they’re actually participating in this real space mission,” said Colby Youngblood, president of Celestis.

“Actually serves a purpose on that satellite as a ballast for weight and balance.”

Loved ones can even track their location in real-time.

Youngblood says popularity for space burials is growing as both access to space and cremation rates significantly rise.

“We’re really proud that we can come in and do that and make space accessible to the normal person,” he said.

Celestis missions offer four different memorial destinations: suborbital space, Earth's orbit, the moon's surface and interplanetary space.

Costs range from $3,000 to $13,000, but for many families the experience is priceless.

“(Tyson) would be over the moon, just beside himself with excitement,” Webber said. 

Sorge’s final adventure is to descend to Earth and burn up, with the appearance of a shooting star. 

For more about Celestis, go here.