The ashes of inspiring actor and activist Nichelle Nichols (aka Lieutenant Uhura on Star Trek: The Original Series) who died just a few weeks ago will join some of her Enterprise crewmates' remains in outer space. Nichols's ashes will fly aboard United Launch Alliance's Vulcan (!) rocket into orbit as part of the aptly-named "Enterprise Flight" payload organized by Celestis, a company that orchestrates memorial spaceflights. Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, Majel Barrett Roddenberry (Nurse Chapel, among other roles), and James Doohan (Scotty) already made the trip. From Spaceref:
"We are truly honored to add a legendary actress, activist, and educator to the Enterprise Flight manifest," said Charles M. Chafer, Co-Founder and CEO of Celestis, Inc. "Now our Enterprise Flight will have on board the person who most completely embodied the vision of Star Trek as a diverse, inclusive, and exploring universe."
The Enterprise Flight (celestis.com/launch-schedule/enterprise-flight) will travel between 150 million to 300 million kilometers into deep space -well beyond the Earth-Moon system to interplanetary space. This mission will launch over 200 flight capsules containing cremated remains (ashes), messages of greetings, and DNA samples from clients worldwide on an endless journey in interplanetary space.