ASHES AMONG THE STARS

My first experience with Star Trek was with the original series. Not in reruns but the first airing on CBS in 1966. Yeah I am that freaking old. I was one of those first Trekies to be fascinated by the possibilities that lay ahead. In the sixties we dialed a telephone and took selfies with a Polaroid. If you don't know what that's like look it up on your smart phone tribble brain.

The show was maybe too far ahead for mainstream viewers and was canceled after three seasons. The show ended up in what was then considered the old TV show bone yard, syndication. But then the unbelievable happened in 1979 Star Trek the Motion Picture resurrected the show the cast and crew. The rest is Science Fiction history.
Having the Kool Kollectables comic store put me right in the mix with the fans and the actors themselves. It was a fantastic time in the 1990s for the Trek experience was really blasting off.
Sadly one by one the originals are fading away Bones, Scotty, Chapel and now Spock. They leave behind a rich legacy like no other in the world of science fiction. One lone near forgotten TV show fought back from the brink of extinction by virtue of a devoted fan base that continued to grow every year after the show ended. Movies, more TV shows, comics, novels, cartoons, and of course the conventions. It was in fact the fans dressing up in costume that saved the franchise.
The stars many of whom were struggling to get work were regulars at the early cons. William Shatner and Lenard Nimoy were both working but neither went on to big box office fame. At least not until the first movie brought it all back.

Star Trek has influenced millions the world over and not just in entertainment but in every aspect of society. Star Trek creator Jean Roddenberry's vision has shaped how we speak and interact with each other. There is hardly a child in America that hasn’t been touched in some way by Star Trek. For half a century the notion that we humans can trek across the galaxy and boldly go where no man has gone before is as powerful today as it was then.

While none of the famed originals have ever gone into space during their life times many have symbolically made the voyage. In 1997 a small portion of Gene Roddenberry's ashes were launch into space. His intrepid wife Majel Barrett Roddenberry who was involved with every Star Trek series until her death in 2008 was also launched into orbit in 2012. Her Husband Gene accompanied her this time and now they Trek together.

A gram of James Doohan's ashes were launched in 2008 but the rocket failed to reach orbit. Never one to let a malfunction stop him Scotty prevailed. In 2012 a second launch from Spaceport America in Southern New Mexico was successful. Scotty made it into space along with real life astronaut Gordon Cooper of the legendary Mercury Seven crew.

These space burial launches were not just for the rich and famous hundreds of ordinary citizens also made those flights. That's what Star Trek does it makes space travel seem accessible to everyone. And some day it will be.

Scientists and engineers the world over are working on new technologies inspired by Star Trek. Space travel, communications, medicine and societal relations. From birth to death Star Trek is a part of us all.