Nichelle Nichols, who played Gene Roddenberry’s communications officer in the original 1966 Star Trek series, died at the age of 89 in late July.
Celestis, a private spaceflight company that works with NASA, will place some of the franchise star’s ashes on a United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur rocket. The flight, called Enterprise, is planned for later this year.
The journey will begin in Cape Canaveral, Florida and is expected to go beyond the James Webb Telescope and into interplanetary deep space.
After orbiting the Sun, the Enterprise flight will be called the Enterprise Station, and the company says it will be the first human footprint — with its DNA, data and memorial flights — to travel beyond the Earth-Moon system. in space.
In addition, the station will serve as a beacon for “the others”: a representation of Earth, its customs and culture for any other life forms that may exist in our galaxy. The company says the rocket will be man’s farthest permanent launch vehicle and a guide to human space exploration.
An iconic figure in the Star Trek universe, Nichelle Nichols is known for portraying a black female authority figure in a major television role – a landmark event in small screen history that took place just two years ago. After passing Civil. 1964 Bill of Rights in the United States.
After considering leaving the show from NBC executives due to racism, the actress was encouraged to continue playing Uhura on the USS Enterprise by civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
As part of the Enterprise flight, the icon’s ashes will be joined by several other Star Trek names, James Montgomery Doohan (Montgomery “Scotty” Scotty on the show) and Gene and Majel Roddenberry (the latter as the interpreter of Nurse Chapel in the original series and other roles in the saga). All four will have their cremated remains on the rocket along with more than 100 other people.
And this isn’t the first time members of the Star Trek family have traveled to space after birth. Gene Roddenberry’s ashes have already been sent on several Celestis missions, including in 2014.
All three seasons of Star Trek, the original series, can be seen on Netflix.
Source: allocine
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
