The ashes and DNA of the Star Trek cast and creators will be part of a special Enterprise mission, according to Universe Today.
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Samples of the late Nichelle Nichols (Lieutenant Uhura), James Doohan (Scotty), and Majel Barrett Roddenberry (Nurse Chapel) will be included in the mission. Joining them will be TV series creator Gene Roddenberry and visual effects master Douglas Trumbull.
On a date yet to be confirmed, the samples will fly ‘beyond the moon’ as a ‘secondary payload’ on a mission to deliver a robotic lunar lander for future NASA Artemis flights . United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur mission is partnering with Celestis of Houston, which conducts memorial spaceflight, for this combined mission.
The first unmanned Artemis mission is scheduled for August 29. It will be followed by a second Artemis flight in orbit around the Moon, then a third – which should be the first manned moon landing in more than 50 years.
Before her death, Nichelle Nichols starred as Lt. Uhara in the original Star Trek series and multiple spin-offs, portraying her role from 1966 to 1991, reports the Smithsonian. The actress, who had also collaborated with NASA, died on July 30 of this year. Gene Roddenberry died in 1991, James Doohan in 2005, Majel Roddenberry in 2008, and Douglas Trumbull in February of this year.
