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When the Heaven's Gate cultists thought a space ship was coming to collect their souls, they may have been taking their cues from Gene
Roddenberry, who created the "Star Trek" series they loved watching on television. He, too, had decided burials and services were a thing of the past.
Never one to do things half way, Roddenberry has already gone into orbit twice. A portion of his ashes were taken on a 1992 space shuttle mission by its commander James
Wetherbee. Another portion began riding around the globe last month, in a capsule strapped inside the top of a solid fuel rocket, the Pegasus.
All this space travel didn't come cheap ($4,800) but then Roddenberry wasn't exactly indigent when he died and his estate continues to collect residuals. Anyway, it was a "Star Trek" fan that paid for his ticket. The arrangements were handled by
Celestis, Inc., in Houston, a company that specializes in these final far-out trips. The lipstick-sized containers containing cremated human remains hitch a ride inside the next rocket carrying a satellite. When it is positioned in orbit, the rocket drops off and tumbles toward earth, burning up on re-entry.
Majel Barrett Roddenberry, an actress who was on the TV series and widow of its creator, made the arrangements for her late husband's voyage. "This may be your final frontier," she said. "It may be a symbolic venture but it's a celebration more than anything. I asked myself if his spirit was hanging around and where Gene would be the happiest." The inscription on the container with his ashes reads: "With love from Majel and Rod," his wife and son, and the journey will last anywhere from a few months to six years until the rocket eventually come back into Earth's gravity and disintegrates as space junk.
In case you're curious, Roddenberry didn't make the trip alone. For the maiden voyage, he was accompanied by the ashes of 24 other high fliers. New Age guru Timothy Leary, who died in May 1996 also went along for the ride. Shortly before his death he had seen a videotape sales pitch from Celestis and told a friend "I'll take one of those!" He was jumping up and down in his wheelchair and saying, "Finally, I will be the light. Everyone will know I am the light!" Of course he always had a tendency to overdramatize everything. So the inscription on his canister read:
PeaceLoveLightYoumeone.
-- Palm Springs gay bar rag The Bottom Line, April 11-24, 1997
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