General Entertainment Gene Rodenberry/Arthur C. Clarke/James Doohan/Nichelle Nichols cremated a second time as ashes burn up on re-entry to Earth's atmosphere after a failed moonshot

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

The ashes of Arthur C. Clarke and Star Trek creator Gene Rodenberry just burned up on re-entry to Earth's atmosphere after a failed moonshot | PC Gamer

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The ashes were among those of around 70 individuals on-board.

 

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Star Trek creator Gene Rodenberry and science fiction legend Arthur C. Clarke's ashes were on board a private US lunar lander that, after a failed moonshot, re-entered Earth's atmosphere on Friday and burned-up on the way down. The intention had been to leave the ashes, among those from around 70 individuals including actors James Doohan (aka Scotty) and Nichelle Nichols (Uhura), on the moon's surface following a successful landing. Rodenberry's ashes have previously been a part of other space missions.

 

Astrobotic Technology's lunar lander Peregrine launched successfully from Florida's Cape Canaveral on Monday, but developed a fuel leak that made attempting the landing an impossibility. The firm reckons a stuck valve caused the issue. Astrobotics then had the unenviable task of working out what to do next and ensuring Peregrine didn't become a space hazard.

 

In cooperation with NASA the craft was guided back towards Earth and re-entered the atmosphere on Friday, somewhere over the South Pacific. As well as the ashes, the lander carried various NASA experiments and equipment (with the US space agency reportedly paying Astrobotic over $150 million).

 

An update yesterday noted Peregrine remained responsive, but at 3:50am EST on 19 January it "lost telemetry" as the lander re-entered Earth's atmosphere. "By responsibly ending Peregrine’s mission, we are doing our part to preserve the future," said the company in a statement.

 

 

[Chris-]

In a sense they were sprinkled like magic dust over the face of the planet, so that’s pretty cool. 

[Keyser_Soze]

Do they get their money back?

[Mr.Vic20]

Its all on brand as sci fi stories usually go wrong! 

[Reputator]

To boldly go....all over the damn place.

[Jason]

6 hours ago, Reputator said:

To boldly go....all over the damn place.

 

Boldly coming all over the damn place is pretty on-brand for Rodenberry.

[Spawn_of_Apathy]

I thought some of those people’s ashes were already taken to space and released to the void. 

[CitizenVectron]

As far as I am aware, this leaves the percentage of successful private moon landing attempts at a solid 0%.