Celestis will be launching the Enterprise and Tranquility Flights on Christmas Eve this year.

And DeForest Kelley’s DNA will be aboard…YAY!

This launch has been delayed at least four times. It looks like it’s finally going to get off the ground just in time for Christmas 2023.

The memorial service for the participants will occur the day before the launch. I have sent my eulogy for De to the powers that be there and they have (again) acknowledged receipt and assured me that it will be shown.  As soon as it has been shown, I will post it here on my blog, too, but I don’t want anyone to see it before people see it during the memorial service.

I can share the longer version (which has totally different anecdotes) here now, though, because it is already posted at Celestis.

I was also originally told Celestis would fly me to the launch site, put me up in a hotel, and let me give my tribute live, so I bought clothes

And then I decided not to go because the original launch date was in the dead of winter (as this flight is) and I didn’t feel up to renting a car, driving on strange highways, supporting Ron DeSantis’s state in any way, shape or form (in terms of spending money for meals while I was there), making cancellable flight reservations, and doing all the other stressful stuff that would be required if I went.  I didn’t figure it was worth  several days of high anxiety to speak live for all of two minutes. And I would have had to be there for at least three days to take in all the other events (the launch, tours, schmoozing). That span of time was all just a bridge too far.  At age 72, I’m not that much into large gatherings (especially with COVID still factoring into the mix) or that much ceaseless activity unless I have serious assistance (drivers, familiar escorts) and down time in between events!  (I’m an ambivert but more on the introvert side, so I require  sufficient space and down time between events. Schmoozing takes a serious “chunk of hide” out of me!!!)

So, I’ll be staying home. I have inquired as to whether they could “patch me in” during the memorial service so I can speak live,though. My video turned out a little glitchy and is NOT really broadcast-quality on a large screen, so they may reach that conclusion themselves after they get a look at it. I hope it’s possible to do it live remotely. I will find out and let you know.

I was originally told  I could speak about De for up to five minutes, but that was before Celestis added the Tranquility Flight to the same rocket, and before there were literally hundreds of participants onboard. They got back to me to say I needed to record a shorter one (under two minutes) for the memorial service, but assured me  they would post the longer version on De’s participant page so it would still be viewable.

The memorial service and launch will be available via a live stream at Celestis.com, so for those of you who want to vicaiously tag along (as I will be doing), you will be able to do that from the comfort of your home.