The capsules containing mortal remains are to be taken into space using a rocket.
Stars of the “Star Trek” cast are now traveling into space again for their final resting place. Or rather: her ashes. Among them are the late series creator Gene Roddenberry, his wife Majel Barrett Roddenberry, Nichelle Nichols (Lieutenant Uhura) as well as DeForest Kelley (Pille) and James Doohan (Scotty). They were all part of the original 1966 Star Trek series and later Star Trek films.
Space burial 330 million kilometers away
On January 8th, her ashes will be carried into space by a rocket. The capsules will then be released around 330 million kilometers from Earth. A total of 250 commemorative capsules will launch from Cape Canaveral Space Station in Florida. Charles Chafer, managing director of the company Celestis Inc., which carries out the flight into space, has been offering memorial space flights, i.e. space burials, for more than two decades.
Chafer reported it was the first time the company had offered a trip into deep space. The long distance is necessary so that the capsules are not attracted to the earth.
Big fan can come along
With the “Star Trek” crew and its inventor, a woman who died at the age of 86 will also find her final resting place in space. The mother of eight Gloria Knowlan was a big fan of the series, her son Rod Knowlan told the AP news agency. Knowlan said his mother would have been “ecstatic” at the idea of some of her remains traveling into space with the actors she saw on television.