The creator of "Star Trek" and his wife will spend eternity together in space.
Celestis Inc., a company that specializes in "memorial spaceflights," said Monday that it will ship the remains of Gene Roddenberry and Majel Barrett-Roddenberry into space next year.
The couple's cremated remains will be sealed into specially made capsules designed to withstand the rigors of space travel. A rocket-launched spacecraft will carry the capsules, along with digitized tributes from fans. The Roddenberrys' remains — and the spacecraft — will travel ever deeper into space and will not return to earth, company spokeswoman Susan Schonfeld said.
After Gene Roddenberry died in 1991, his wife commissioned Celestis to launch a part of his remains into space in 1997. She died Dec. 18, 2008.
Barrett-Roddenberry played Number One and Nurse Christine Chapel in the original "Star Trek" series, and played Deanna Troi's mother on "Star Trek: The Next Generation." And prior to her death, she was the voice of the Enterprise in the forthcoming "Star Trek" movie, due out in May.