Notable individuals buried in space
James Doohan (left) visiting NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center with pilot Bruce Peterson April 13, 1967 in front of the Northrop M2-F2.
Launched into Earth orbit
- Gene Roddenberry (August 19, 1921 – October 24, 1991), creator of Star Trek.[6][35]
- Gerard K. O’Neill (1927–1992), space physicist.[6][36]
- Krafft Ehricke (1917–1984), rocket scientist.[6][37]
- Timothy Leary (October 22, 1920 – May 31, 1996), American writer, psychologist, psychedelic drug advocate and Harvard professor.[6][38]
- Charles Oren Bennett (January 21, 1928 – 1999), space illustrator.[23][39]
- James Doohan (March 3, 1920 – July 20, 2005), actor best known for his portrayal of Scotty in the television and film series Star Trek.[20][40] Celestis also launched him into space in 2007[41][42] and in 2008.[21][43]
- L. Gordon “Gordo” Cooper, Jr. (March 6, 1927 – October 4, 2004), American astronaut. He was one of the original Mercury Seven pilots in the Project Mercury program, the first crewed space effort by the United States.[42]
Buried on the Moon
- Dr. Eugene Shoemaker, (April 28, 1928 – July 18, 1997), astronomer and co-discoverer of Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9.[44][45]
Launched into outer space
- Clyde Tombaugh (February 4, 1906 – January 17, 1997), American astronomer and discoverer of Pluto in 1930. A small sample of Tombaugh’s ashes are aboard New Horizons, the first spacecraft to attempt to pass by and photograph Pluto. This is the first sample of human cremated remains which will escape the solar system to travel among the stars.[27]
Future space burials
- Leiji Matsumoto (born 1938), Japanese creator of numerous celebrated anime and manga series including Galaxy Express 999, Space Battleship Yamato and Space Pirate Captain Harlock announced his intention to have a symbolic portion of his cremated remains to be launched into space on a future Elysium Space mission.[46]
- Majel Barrett (1932–2008), American actress who played Christine Chapel in the original Star Trek series; wife of Gene Roddenberry. A symbolic portion of both her cremated remains and Roddenberry’s cremated remains will be launched into space on a future Celestis mission.[47][48]
- William R. Pogue (1930–2014), American astronaut.[47][49] and Luise Clayborn Kaish (1925–2013), American sculptor and painter.[47][50]