Photo: Charles Boyer, FMN
Celestis, the Texas company that provides space-based memorial services for the families of loved ones is reporting that its Enterprise Flight payload launched on ULA’s Vulcan rocket Monday morning is successful and traveling 85 million miles (297 mil km) from Earth into deep space.
According to company president Colby Youngblood, the secondary payload for yesterday morning’s Vulcan launch is on course and on its way to a permanent heliocentric orbit. When queried about the mission status and whether the Astrobotics’ Peregrine lander’s problems could also spoil the Celestis Enterprise Flight mission, Colby said, “the [flight] is not affected. The flights are on two completely different spacecraft that separated 50 minutes after launch.”
Enterprise Mission: Successful
Photo: NASA
The Enterprise flight contained portions of the remains of Star Trek stars Nichelle Nichols James Doohan, and Majel Barrett Roddenberry, as well as series creator Gene Roddenberry and visual-effects artist Douglas Trumbull among many others. They were launched into space in small capsules as secondary payloads as part of United Launch Alliance’s maiden flight of Vulcan, and will continue to solar orbit after Vulcan’s primary mission of sending Peregrine on its way to the southern polar region of the moon has concluded.
The DNA samples of Tory Bruno and his wife Rebecca — who is also a former Lockheed Martin rocket engineer that worked on the Trident II missile system were also on board.. Tory is now the CEO of United Launch Alliance, the company who designed and built the Vulcan rocket to be used for this launch.
Colby also stated that “The Enterprise Flight met all three of its engine burns to set it on course for its final heliocentric orbit. It’s on its way. It’s successful. The name will change to the Enterprise Station when it reaches its final orbit.” This is the 18th memorial mission since 1997, with Celestis helping families the world over commemorate the lives of their departed loved ones.
According to the company’s website, “Celestis engages licensed funeral directors, maintains a trust fund licensed and audited by the Texas Department of Banking, and is a proud member of the Better Business Bureau. We have upheld the highest performance standards and guarantees for more than two decades.”
Future Celestis Missions
Celestis’s next mission, the Tranquility Flight, Colby said “Concerning our Tranquility Flight, “we are standing by for more information and are hopeful the Astrobotic team can identify and implement a solution.”
He added, “Celestis has a performance guarantee that provides a no cost reflight for our clients in the event the mission does not reach the intended destination and for this reason we already have collected sufficient flight samples to do so from our clients.” It sounds like the guarantee won’t be needed for the families of the Enterprise Flight’s participants.
