Nichelle Nichols’ final resting place will be the stars.
The legendary actress, who stared as Lieutenant Uhura on the original Star Trek, passed away on July 30. Nichols played a pivotal role in paving the way for Black actresses to make their mark on the entertainment industry, participating in one of the first interracial kisses shown on television, Daily Mail reports.
Nichols’ ashes and her DNA will be flown into space in a special “Enterprise mission,” according to Universe Today.
Nichols’ “symbolic samples” will fly beyond the moon, along with those of other Star Trek stars who have passed away, including James Doohan, Majel Barrett Roddenberry, Gene Roddenberry, the show’s creator, and the man behind Star Trek‘s revolutionary visual effects, Douglas Trumbull.
Celestis, a Houston-based spaceflight company, has been organizing a flight to transport its customers’ remains for over 25 years. A gram of Nichols’ ashes and DNA samples taken from her and her son Kyle Johnson will be sent as part of United Launch Alliance’s first Vulcan Centaur mission, Celestis reports.
It’s extraordinary, but Nichols’ son says she would have likely “preferred to go on the shuttle.”
“But this was a pretty close second,” he said, according to Universe Today.
The Centaur and its attached payloads, including Nichols’ remains, will head for a “graveyard orbit,” that will circle the sun. The additional payloads will include more than 150 capsules with cremated remains, DNA samples and messages intended to stand the test of time, literally.
The idea to pay tribute to Nichols came shortly after her death. Johnson said Celestis co-founder Charles Chafer approached him with the idea of a Star Trek-themed memorial mission.
“I was kind of in a state of shock, alternately crying my eyes out or feeling kind of numb,” he said. “And then we were contacted by Charlie and the crew, and informed of this and invited to participate. The timing could not have been better, and it was a really amazing thing to contemplate.”
The Vulcan’s mission is slated to kick off as early as December.