A rocket containing the remains of 330 people, including some prominent figures such as George Washington and “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry, will finally take off towards deep space at 2:18 a.m. Monday from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
Celestis Inc., a Texas-based company, is behind this inaugural Enterprise Flight – the first-ever commercial deep space mission. The two-stage Vulcan Centaur rocket will drop 62 titanium capsules, filled with DNA or cremated remains, on the moon as a “permanent memorial.” After that, the remaining 268 capsules will travel over 185 million miles into deep space, orbiting the sun forever.
Celestis CEO and Co-founder Charles Chafer spoke about his excitement for this mission, saying, “I’ve had a lot of firsts in my career, but this will be the first commercial deep space mission ever done – and hopefully it will be the first of many, many more over the next few centuries.”
The mission will carry the remains of numerous luminaries, including hair samples from former U.S. Presidents Washington, Kennedy and Eisenhower, and partial remains of three “Star Trek” cast members – Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura), James Doohan (Scotty), and DeForest Kelley (Dr. McCoy).
Celestis had previously flown Gene Roddenberry on its first-ever mission, and now the spaceship will take his wife, Magel Barrett Roddenberry, fulfilling a promise to her.
The titanium capsules will be carried and dropped by the 6-foot-tall and 8-foot-wide device called the Peregrine Lunar Lander.
