ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, April 22, 1997 TAG: 9704220070
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: MADRID, SPAIN
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
The company charges $4,800 to launch 0.2 ounces of cremated remains, which families sift into the vial.
Boldly going where no man's ashes have gone before, Gene Roddenberry's cremated remains soared into space Monday with those of LSD guru Timothy Leary and two dozen other space enthusiasts.
The sci-fi dream of a space funeral - and Leary's desire for one last trip - became reality when a rocket carrying their ashes blasted into orbit.
``It was a kind of a culmination of Gene's dreams and visions. It was gratifying to see,'' said Majel Roddenberry, widow of the ``Star Trek'' creator.
A white Lockheed L-1011 airplane lifted the Pegasus rocket over the Canary Islands off the coast of northwest Africa. It dropped the rocket at 30,000 feet. Seconds later, the rocket blasted away, leaving a trail of white smoke in the cloudless sky.
The 24 ashtronauts traveled in lipstick-size aluminum capsules. The capsules accompanied the rocket's main payload, the first Spanish-designed and -built satellite, which will conduct scientific research.
The remains, which will trail the satellite in an orbit 300 miles above the Earth, represent three generations of America's involvement in space.
Among those whose ashes were on board:
Krafft Ehricke, a former Nazi rocket scientist who worked for the United States after World War II.
Princeton University physicist Gerard O'Neill, a proponent of space stations.
Benson Hamlin, who worked on NASA's moon missions for Boeing, the Seattle-based airplane manufacturer.
Katsuya Stephen Ata, a New York City boy who died at age 5 of undisclosed causes. He loved the stars.
Leary, a former Harvard professor and LSD guru who told young Americans in the 1960s to ``turn on, tune in and drop out,'' was best known for his exploration of inner space - the mind - through hallucinogenic drugs.
But Leary also believed in exploring the cosmos, said Carol Rosin, a friend who watched the launch at Maspalomas Space Station on Grand Canary Island.
When Leary was dying of prostate cancer last year, he told Rosin: ``I want you to get me into outer space.'' Rosin checked with NASA and with military officials, who steered her to Celestis Inc. of Houston.
``We were sent a kit with a videotape. When Timothy saw the re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, when he saw that burst of light when the rocket vaporized, he was literally jumping up and down in his wheelchair,'' Rosin said.
The company charges $4,800 to launch 0.2 ounces of cremated remains, which families sift into the vial and drop in the mail.
Monday was the inaugural launch - the ``Founders Flight'' - and the company is planning more after receiving thousands of inquiries. Only a portion of a person's ashes can fit into the small cylinders.
Each capsule is inscribed with the person's name and a personal message.
Leary's vial read: ``Peace Love Light YouMeOne.''
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshots) 1. Timothy Leary believed in exploring theby CNBinnerspace of the mind. 2. Roddenberry. color.