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On this day in space! Oct. 22, 1992: Ashes of 'Star Trek' creator Gene Roddenberry launch into space on NASA shuttle
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On Oct. 22, 1992, NASA's space shuttle Columbia launched on mission STS-52 carrying a small container with a portion of Gene Roddenberry's ashes, the world's first space burial. Roddenberry, creator of 'Star Trek,' dreamed of spaceflight but never traveled while alive. His widow, Majel Barrett, asked shuttle commander James Wetherbee to carry the ashes as personal effects. The flight occurred almost exactly one year after Roddenberry's death.
The memorial remained private for nearly two years. NASA and Roddenberry's family disclosed it only in 1994. Wetherbee said he was 'honored to be asked' and glad to bring 'a little happiness' to the family, according to Newsweek. The mission gave the 'Star Trek' creator a posthumous spaceflight that his life never allowed.
In 1997, the space memorial company Celestis began launching capsules of human cremains on rockets. More of Roddenberry's ashes flew on Celestis' 'founders flight' in April 1997 aboard an air-launched Pegasus rocket from the Canary Islands. The company later conducted suborbital and orbital memorial flights.
Celestis expanded space burial beyond low Earth orbit. In 1999 it launched the ashes of astronomer Eugene Shoemaker to the moon on the Luna 1 flight. In 2023 it sent another set of cremains into deep space on the Enterprise mission. The ashes of Roddenberry's wife and 'Star Trek' actor James Doohan have also flown in space.
The disclosures and later flights showed that commercial space memorials could endure. They also linked public spaceflight with personal remembrance. Roddenberry's first memorial flight was secret, but later missions turned similar gestures into repeatable services.
The ongoing use of rockets for cremains suggests demand for memorial spaceflight persists. It also keeps Roddenberry's legacy tied to the exploration he imagined. As commercial launches increase, such memorial missions may continue.
