The ashes of Nichelle Nichols, who played Lieutenant Uhura in the original “Star Trek” TV series and died in July, will be launched into space later this year.
Celestis, a private spaceflight company working with NASA, will rocket her ashes into space, 150 to 300 million kilometers away, beyond the Earth-Moon system and the James Webb Telescope. is.
Nichols, one of the first black women to play a leading role in a network television series, died of heart failure at the age of 89.
As Lieutenant Uhura, communications officer on Starship USS Enterprise, Nichols was not only a pioneering actor, but also known for encouraging women and people of color to join NASA.
The United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket is set to carry more than 200 capsules containing ashes, greetings and DNA samples when it launches into deep space from Cape Canaveral, Fla., later this year.
Nichols’ son, Kyle Johnson, has donated DNA samples to participate in his mother’s space travel. “My only regret is not being able to share this eternal tribute standing by my mother at the launch,” Johnson said. said in a statement.
Celestis said a rocket will be launched into space and will send a lunar lander to the moon. It will then enter a stable orbit around the Sun with the Celestis Memorial Spaceflight payload. Rocket’s Powered Burn and Coast When his phase ends, the flight becomes the Enterprise Station, named after “Star Trek”.
Other Star Trek figures and some fan ashes will also be on board the space flight.
They include “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry and his wife Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, who played Nurse Chappell in the original series. James Doohan as Montgomery Scott, chief engineer on the USS Enterprise. Douglas Trumbull, who created visual effects for Star Trek: The Motion Picture, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Blade Runner.
Roddenberry’s remains have been sent into space several times so far. 1997 On the first Celestis space flight carrying ashes. The cremated remains of LSD advocate Timothy Leary were also on that journey.
For this year’s Celestis space flight, the company is collecting public tributes to Nichols, digitizing them, and including them in the flight.
Nichols began his decades-long association with NASA after starring in the original Star Trek series, which aired from 1966 to 1969.
Beginning in 1977, she helped promote space agencies and assisted in efforts to recruit people from underrepresented backgrounds. NASA recognized her achievements Thousands of women and people from minority groups have been encouraged to apply for the agency, including Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, and Charles Bolden, NASA administrator from 2009 to 2017. I was.
Mae Jemison, who became the first woman of color to go to space in 1992, often said Nichols’ performance in “Star Trek” sparked her interest in space.
After Nichols’ death, NASA administrator Bill Nelson said: said in a statement Her “advocacy went beyond television and changed NASA.”