Cremated remains of Clyde Tombaugh, the first person to get a glimpse of Pluto in 1930, is aboard the New Horizons spacecraft on its way to the dwarf star.

Tombaugh died in 1997 and his ashes were placed in an aluminum capsule within the space probe in 2006.

New Horizons came within 7,500 miles of Pluto in 2015 and is now more than four billion miles away from Earth — making this the longest post-mortem flight ever recorded.

BURIAL SITES COME in many shapes, colors, and locations, but few are as unique as Clyde Tombaugh’s last resting place. Tombaugh died in 1997, and in 2006, an ounce of his cremated remains were placed in an aluminum capsule aboard New Horizons, a space probe that is part of NASA’s mission to Pluto.

An illustration of New Horizons flying by Pluto and its moon Charon. NASA

Tombaugh was the first person to ever get a glimpse of Pluto in 1930. When he was 24 years old, working at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, he discovered a planetary body that was then dubbed “Planet X.” His discovery completely reshaped scientists’ understanding of the solar system.

A model of the New Horizons spacecraft. Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Surprisingly, being “buried” in space isn’t unique. Since Star Trek creator did it in 1992, around 450 people have followed suit, requesting that a small portion of their cremated remains be launched into the great unknown. There are even companies dedicated to space burial, including Elysium and Celestis.

Tombaugh, however, has taken the longest postmortem flight of anyone, coming within 7,800 miles of Pluto in July 2015. New Horizons is still cruising through space as we speak, and is currently over four billion miles from Earth. In a 2015 interviewwith NASA, Tombaugh’s daughter Annette said, “I think my dad would be thrilled…When he looked at Pluto, it was just a speck of light.”

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