James Doohan (“Scotty”), is beaming up into zero gravity this weekend, along with the remains of Patricia Murray, a StarTrek fan, and L. Gordon Cooper, one of the original Mercury 7 astronauts.
This is the sixth memorial spaceflight of Celestis, a Houston company that contracts with rocket firms to send cremated remains into space. Capsules and modules containing the remains were loaded onto the Spaceloft XL launch vehicle on March 30. The single-stage, suborbital rocket is capable of carrying 110 pounds into space, 70 miles above the Earths surface.
The launch inaugurates the company’s Earth-Return Service, which blasts the remains into zero gravity with the individual capsules and modules dropping back to Earth for a parachute rescue. The spacecraft is consumed by the atmosphere and the capsules are returned to family members.
Celestis services start at $495 and can run up to $67,495 for the (deep space) Voyager mission.
Their Earth Orbit service ($1,295-$7,495), launches a symbolic portion of cremated remains into space as part of a real space mission, riding alongside a commercial or scientific satellite. which launches capsules and modules on a voyage through deepest space.
This year is also the anniversary of the Founders Flight, which sent the remains of Star Trek creator Gene Rodenberry and 1960s icon Timothy Leary into orbit in 1997.
The Spaceloft XL rocket will be the first commercial launch from Spaceport America, the world’s first commercial spaceport, a $225 million project developed with support from the New Mexico state government.
Richard Branson last will use the site as a base for Virgin Galactic, which plans to blast tourists into space by the end of the decade.
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