USA TODAY NETWORK The mission that got off the ground from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in Southern California was designed to return from orbit in a major first. While an "anomaly" prevented the spacecraft bearing the memorial capsules from making a gentle landing, the payload did indeed make it to orbit – and even twice circled Earth. Celestis previously made headlines in January 2024 when its plans to land human remains on the moon's surface attracted some controversy. Falcon 9 rocket delivers human remains to orbit For its most recent mission, a total of 166 individual Celestis memorial capsules were on board a Nyx spacecraft manufactured by Europe-based The Exploration Company (TEC,) which hitched a ride on the Falcon 9. Among those whose remains on board the flight was Wesley Melvin Dreyer, an aerospace engineer selected by NASA to be on the team that investigated the Challenger space shuttle disaster in 1986. The launch, Celestis' 25th overall mission since it was founded in 1994, was meant to be Celestis' first-ever to return from an altitude high enough to be considered Earth's orbit. The Nyx module reached low-Earth orbit, where it traveled for three hours at about 17,000 miles per hour and completed two full orbits around Earth. But instead of safely reentering Earth's atmosphere to land in the Pacific Ocean as planned, the Nyx spacecraft experienced a parachute failure that resulted in it crashing into the sea. As a result, a team was unable to recover the capsules to return them to their families, Celestis co-founder and CEO Charles M. Chafer said in a statement. "We believe that we will not be able to recover or return the flight capsules aboard. We share in the disappointment of our families, and we offer our sincerest gratitude for their trust," Chafer said in a statement provided to the USA TODAY Network. "We hope families will find some peace in knowing their loved ones were part of a historic journey, launched into space, orbited Earth, and are now resting in the vastness of the Pacific, akin to a traditional and honored sea scattering." Celestis previously sought to bring human remains to moon Celestis previously made headlines in January 2024 when its plans to land human remains on the moon's surface attracted some controversy. The plan was for the remains and DNA of more than 70 deceased people to be included on a lunar lander bound for the moon. That included remains from “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry and science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke. But Navajo Nation, the largest tribe of Native Americans in the United States vehemently opposed the lunar burial, penning a letter decrying the plans as "a profound desecration."