Watch: Astronomer’s ashes scattered above Earth as urn sent into space

A keen astronomer’s ashes were scattered above Earth after his urn was sent into space.

Jason Mercer, 44, died alongside Alexandru Murgeanua, 22, after they were hit by a lorry on a stretch of the M1 which doesn’t have a hard shoulder in 2019.

Claire Mercer, who has been campaigning to ban “smart motorways”, says her husband would have ‘loved’ the send-off.

“What choked me... is that he had to die to get the trip into space... he would have loved it while he was alive,” Claire said.

“It’s amazing to think he went all the way up there.”

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