Celestis, Inc., has announced a launch date of 28 April to send actor James Doohan, astronaut L. Gordon Cooper, Jr., and 200 other people’s ashes into space.
Doohan, who died in 2005, was best known for playing Star Trek‘s engineer Montgomery Scott in the original series, the first six movies, and an episode of The Next Generation. His widow, Wende Doohan, writing on Celestis’s web site, says “Jimmy absolutely adored playing the role of Scotty on Star Trek. He promoted space exploration and travel where ever he went. He would have given almost anything to be able to actually go into space. When asked if he would ever ride the Space Shuttle, with a twinkle in his eye he replied, ‘In a heartbeat!'” She also offers fans an opportunity to participate electronically: “I can’t think of a more fitting send off than having some of his fans attend this, his final journey. If you wish to send a few words of tribute, they will be digitized and sent with Jimmy, as part of the payload on this launch.”
Cooper was one of the original Mercury 7 astronauts. He flew into space in May 1963 aboard the Faith 7 (which was mission Mercury 9, the last of the Mercury flights), and then commanded Gemini 5 in August 1965. Celestis says of Cooper’s Mercury flight that Cooper “orbited Earth 22 times over a 34-hour period—logging more time on Earth orbit than all previous Mercury flights combined. During this record-setting mission, he also became the first astronaut to sleep in space. With… his final flight to Earth orbit—we all wish that he rests in peace.” There is an opportunity for fans to send an electronic message with Cooper on Celestis’s web site, too.
The Celestis module—containing small portions of cremated ashes from more than 200 people, including Doohan and Cooper—was recently placed aboard an UP Aerospace (UPA) rocket that is scheduled to launch from Spaceport America, near Las Cruces, New Mexico. The flight will also carry “dozens of student experiments from elementary schools to high schools to universities—from across America and worldwide —as well as some incredibly innovative commercial payloads,” according to UPA. It will use UPA’s new Spaceloft XL, a single-stage, suborbital rocket with a 110-pound payload capacity. Celestis launched some of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry’s ashes into space on their first flight in 1997.
For more information, see Celestis’s web site or UP Aerospace’s web site.