American Museum of Natural History (AMNH)

In early 2025 we discovered the remains of rocket and space pioneer Willy Ley in the basement of our Upper West Side apartment building in New York City. Maureen Cavanagh of the New York Times wrote an incredible article detailing Willy's life and contributions to the fields of rocket science and space travel. His legacy is an inspiration to everyone to dream of fantastical things and then work to bring them into being. Since the Willy Ley NYTimes article ran on April 23rd so many people have reached out inquiring about how Willy's ashes can be sent to space. We have been able to be in touch with his closest living relatives and confirm their desire to see his space journey become a reality by sending his ashes to space.

We believe we will be able to honor those wishes thanks to the generosity of corporations like Celestis and several individuals who have reached out. We will post updates to that portion of his journey online as they are confirmed and hopefully the NYTimes will run a follow up! You can sign up to get Updates.

To honor Willy's legacy as a scientist, visionary, thinker, dreamer and pioneer, we are raising funds to establish an educational scholarship in his name at the American Museum of Natural History, located just 10 blocks north from where Willy's remains were discovered. It is our and the family's belief that he would love nothing more than to continue to inspire future generations to turn magical thinking into everyday reality.