Ashes of original 'Star Trek' actors, creator headed to space from Florida for final mission
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Remains of the cast and crew members of the original Star Trek TV series will make their final mission to space next week aboard a United Launch Alliance rocket, appropriately named Vulcan Centaur.
Celestis, a company that transports ashes from Earth to a heavenly burial ground in space, has dubbed the launch the Enterprise Mission, in tribute to the fictional space-exploring "starship" at the center of the Star Trek universe.
The Star Trek reunion mission has been delayed several times but is now scheduled to launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Monday, Jan. 8 at 2:18 a.m.
The Star Trek franchise includes dozens of movies and several incarnations of the original groundbreaking sci-fi TV series which aired from 1966 to 1969.
The ashes of the series' creator, Gene Roddenberry, and his wife, Majel Barrett Roddenberry, who played nurse Christine Chapel on the TV show, will be a part of the payload.
Producer Gene Roddenberry and actress Majel Barrett-Roddenberry attend the premiere of "Crocodile Dundee II" on May 22, 1988 at Mann Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
The remains also on board the Enterprise Mission include those of actor DeForest Kelley, who played Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, James Doohan, who played engineer Mr. Scott, and Nichelle Nichols, who starred as communications officer Lt. Uhura.
Credit: Celestis Inc
Nichols died in 2022, Doohan in 2005, and Kelley in 1999. Series creator Roddenberry passed away in 1991 and his wife Barrett in 2008.
Nichelle Nichols as Lt. Uhura in the STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES episode, "Assignment: Earth." Season 2, episode 26. Original air date was March 29, 1968. Image is a screen grab. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images)
From left: James Doohan as Chief Engineer Montgomery 'Scotty' Scott and DeForest Kelley as Dr. Leonard H. McCoy on the Star Trek: The Original Series episode, "Whom Gods Destroy." Originally aired January 3, 1969. Image is a screen grab. (Photo by CB
The ashes from Roddenberry's close associate Robert Justman, who served as associate producer and director on the TV series, and starship model designer and special effects creator Greg Jein, will travel with the actors' remains when the Vulcan Centaur blasts off.
Producer Gene Roddenberry and Star Trek cast members attend Star Trek Universal Studios Tour Showing on June 9, 1988 at Universal Studios in Universal City, California. (Photo by Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
Space travel has become common among the original cast members of Star Trek. In October 2021, actor William Shatner, who had the starring role in the original Star Trek as Captain James T. Kirk, flew to the edge of space on a Blue Origin rocket. Shatner was 90 at the time and the oldest person to fly in space. In 2023, he told FOX News Digital he has no plans to make a return trip to space.
RELATED: William Shatner reveals why he won't return to space
In addition to the symbolic nature of the Celestis Star Trek Reunion mission, the Vulcan rocket will attempt to deliver a roving exploration vehicle to the moon’s surface and two prototype satellites into outer space.
Once its deliveries are completed, it will remain in solar orbit and be nicknamed Enterprise Station, a nod to the starship made famous by the Star Trek franchise.