Topeka resident's remains will be launched into space
TOPEKA (KSNT) - A Topeka resident's cremated remains will be launched into the unknown on the Deep Space Voyager mission.
Scheduled to launch on Jan. 8 from Cape Canaveral, Fl., John A. Zempel's remains will be onboard, carrying him deep into space.
Zempel was an avid space enthusiast who passed away on March 21, 2022, as a result of the "unstable actions of another." Zempel was selected by Celestis, Inc. to join more than 150 capsules containing ashes destined for the cosmos. One of his favorite TV shows was Star Trek and Zempel's remains will be alongside original caste members Nichelle Nichols, James Doohan and DeForest Kelly.
“We’re very pleased to be fulfilling, with this mission, a promise I made to Majel Barrett Roddenberry in 1997 that one day we would fly her and husband Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry together on a deep space memorial spaceflight,” said Celestis Co-Founder and CEO Charles M. Chafer. “The mission is named Enterprise in tribute to them - and also fellow mission participant and beloved actor, James “Scotty” Doohan - as well as the many Star Trek fans who are joining them on this, the 20th Celestis Memorial Spaceflight. We look forward to launching this historic mission on a rocket named Vulcan.”
The space flight will position a lunar lander on course to rendezvous with the Moon and then continue onto a path to orbit the sun. Once the rocket's upper stage achieves orbit the flight will be renamed Enterprise Station where it will journey on endlessly, according to Celestis, Inc.
Celestis, Inc. will be taking reservations to send remains or DNA into space on a second Voyager Mission called the Infinite Flight scheduled to fly in the first quarter of 2025.
"John’s family will honor his love of forging new frontiers, science, and space when he embarks on an infinite journey into the cosmos," a press release from Celestis, Inc. said.
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