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VaBeachGuy

On This Day...

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It was on this day 6 years ago that the Father of Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry, went "where no man has gone before". Below is an article about Gene's trip into the "Final Frontier". It was written February 12, 1997 by Steven Hunt.

 

To comment on this please click here: Trek News

 

"The person who single-handedly brought science fiction and space travel into the living rooms of the nation is about to boldly go where no one has gone before. Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, who died in 1991, is about to make one last trip to his final resting place. Science fiction will become science fact as his ashes will soon be rocket-bound for the great vacuum of space.Houston-based Celestis Inc. has recently begun the first of what they hope to be many space journeys for those who want to travel in space. The only pre-requisite is that you have no pulse. Roddenberry's widow - who had her husband cremated after his death - had not found a suitable place to scatter his ashes…Until this out-of-the-world opportunity presented itself.

 

"Who better deserves to go into space than Gene Roddenberry?" his widow, Majel Barrett-Roddenberry asked yesterday. Although his ashes have already been taken along for one of the shuttle missions, this time they will remain among the stars for a considerably longer sojourn. "He would want a chance to be part of the space industry," she stated. But Roddenberry will not be alone on his trip, nor will he be the only famous person.Among the 'passenger' list for the maiden trip for Celestis is 1960s guru Timothy Leary, space physicist Gerard O'Neill, and rocket scientist Krafft Ehricke. The one-way fare to final frontier is $6700 and includes a 25-character inscription on the lipstick-sized metal capsule that houses the ashes. The Celestis kit comes with a beaker, funnel, small scoop, and two test-tube containers - one as a backup.

 

Besides the four famous 'passengers', 20 other vials were also placed in a metal canister and strapped to the wing of an L-1011 jet in Los Angeles on Sunday en route for Madrid. A Spanish rocket will blast off next month carrying a commercial satellite and the 24 rather unique capsules, each weighing only 7 grams.

 

Once the rocket takes off and releases its cargo and 'passengers', the remains of Roddenberry, Leary and the others can expect to stay space-bound for anywhere from 18 months to 10 years, according to Celestis. Then they can all expect to come back down to earth…sort of. Each of the capsules will be eventually drawn back from their floating state by earth's gravitational pull, and will burn up on re-entry.

 

While Roddenberry can't expect to travel to other galaxies with the Celestis project, his widow hopes that his one final journey at least will bring him closer to the place he's now synonymous with: space - the final frontier.

 

To find out more about this new company and its rather unorthodox final destination for human remains, check out the Celestis Inc. website."

 

 

 

~From EXN.ca

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