The recently deceased Nichelle Nichols, 89, who played Uhura on the “Star Trek” TV series, is among at least five series actors and creators whose ashes will be launched into space.
“Star Trek” has appeared in many versions of movies and TV series, but the common denominator among those whose ashes will now be sent into space is that they were involved in the original series from the 1960s.
According to the news agency Reuters Nichols is the last person to have a portion of his ashes transferred to outer space.
It will be a wonderful and everlasting memorial for her, Nechelle’s son Kyle Johnson told Reuters.
It’s already known that series creator Gene Roddenberry and James Doohan, who played Scotty, will also have bits of their ashes in orbit around the Sun. Magel Barrett Roddenberry, who played nurse Kristen Chapel, and sci-fi effects artist Douglas Trumbull are also on board.
Reuters writes that there is not yet a launch date for the project organized by the Texas company Celestia. They work very tightly in the funeral home business of those who can send urns of ashes into space.
The next spaceflight will take place with the Vulcan Centaur missile, which is still under development by Boeing and Lockheed Martin in cooperation with the United Launch Alliance (ULA). The flight will take place with about 200 capsules of the ashes of the deceased.
According to Roddenberry IGN Ashes have previously been sent into space, and bits of Doha’s ashes are said to have been smuggled aboard the International Space Station in 2008.
On the website, Celestis advertises different price combinations for different packages. Souvenir spaceflight prices start at around NOK 25,000. The company also claims that spaceflight is environmentally friendly.
Nichols He passed away on July 30, 89 years old. She played Lieutenant Nyota Oora on StarTrek and pioneered as the first African American woman in a leading role on television. She also made history by sharing the first televised kiss between a black woman and a white man.
Nichols received a lot of recognition for his role in “Star Trek”. When at some point I thought about leaving the series, it was Martin Luther King Jr. He asked her to continue.
She also collaborated with NASA to recruit minorities and women.
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