Post by JoannaL on Jan 18, 2024 20:04:53 GMT -5
Star Trek Creator, Cast Members Burn in Earth's Atmosphere
The DNA and/or ashes of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenbery and his wife, Nichelle Nichols (who played the role of Uhura), DeForest Kelley (Dr. McCoy) and James Doohan (Scotty) didn’t make it to the Moon, or back to Earth.
Also on board the spacecraft known as Peregrine One were the ashes of Canadian Trekkie Gloria Knowlan, who died 12 years ago at age 86, and DNA from what was believed to be the hair of Presidents George Washington, Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy.
The $108 million Celestis “Enterprise Flight” was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, Monday, January 8, with the intention of taking remains of the dead occupants to the Moon, marking the first time the company – for a price ranging from a few thousand dollars to $13,000 – had offered a “deep space” trip in a capsule that wasn’t intended to eventually fall to Earth.
“I believe it’s an awful lot like why people choose to be scattered at sea,” Celestis co-founder and CEO Charles Chafer said of the venture. “There’s a calling there. There’s something about the sea that either interests them or attracts them as a location for a memorial service.”
Unfortunately, the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry, and instead of spending eternity on the Moon, the spacecraft, which developed a propellant leak, was prepared for a controlled landing upon its return to Earth. Astrobiotic, the private space robotics company assisting in the operation released the following update:
“Astrobotic has positioned the Peregrine spacecraft for a safe, controlled re-entry to Earth over a remote area of the South Pacific,” the company posted on its website. “The team has been continuously monitoring our reentry analysis with NASA, which indicates a reentry path over the indicated ... with no anticipated hazards.” (Astrobiotic indicated the craft would crash into the South Pacific approximately 400 miles south of Fiji.)
The spacecraft and everything on board – including millions of dollars in equipment aimed at locating water molecules on the Moon, measuring radiation and gases around the lander, and evaluating the lunar exosphere – all burned upon entering the Earth’s atmosphere.
Sources: Timothy Nerozzi, Fox News, January 18, 2024; Kevin Accettulla, WFLA, January 4, 2024, and The Associated Press, January 2, 2024.