BACK STORY:
After we signed off from the EVER NEW podcast featuring Marc B Lee on August 13th, I let him know I had a lock of De’s hair and asked him if the powers-that-be at Celestis or NASA might be interested in sending De’s DNA on the same Enterprise/Vulcan flight into deep space that Gene Roddenberry, Majel Barrett, Douglas Trumbull, James Doohan, and Nichelle Nichol’s DNA will be on. Marc felt certain Celestis would jump at the opportunity, so he asked me to stand by while he inquired.
On Sunday evening, the answer came: “YES! YES! YES! Oh my goodness, yes!” They felt it was a miracle that they would EVER be able to include De’s DNA in the launch.
Marc gave me the phone number of Cristiana at Celestis, and she and I began the process of signing the contract, getting half of the lock of hair shipped off to their Canadian labs for processing, and clearing the way for the announcement. I was asked to write De’s bio, so I revisited the Walk of Fame ceremony where Johnny Grant read off a bit of it, figuring that De had probably approved that one in advance.
They invited me to speak about De at the memorial service for the honorees the day before the upcoming launch, and (because I’m a retiree with limited income) they said they’ll pay my way: the flight, the hotel, a rental car if need be, etc. (I think Marc will pick me up at the airport and drive me to the hotel. A shuttle bus will take all invited guests to the launch site and memorial service sites.)
I accepted, with great thanks, and asked how long a time I would be given to speak. Then I sat down and finally wrote something of about the right length. (Of course the initial draft went over the time allotted; I had to trim it down!) I will be reviewing it between now and then to make sure it’s as good as it can be before I present it.
ABOUT THAT LOCK OF HAIR
While Carolyn and I were waiting in her hospital room for the Neptune Society driver to come get De after he passed away, she asked me if I would snip off a lock of De’s hair for her. I nodded yes. She said I could get one for myself, too.
So, I went over to De’s room and snipped two locks from behind one of his ears. I placed them in baggies and dated them 6/11/99. I knew he had made arrangements to be cremated, but I didn’t think to ask for any of his ashes, as he had told me and the Neptune Society that he wanted them (and Carolyn’s, when her time came) to be scattered off Point Fermin in San Pedro, California.
So, instead I got a lock of his hair, which I consider far superior to cremains. I had brushed his hair, washed his hair, and shaved his face. So, this was a special memento to prove to myself years/decades later that, yes, it really had happened and wasn’t all just a dream….
And for the past several years, I have been wondering what will become of my Kelley treasures when I am no longer here. When Marc mentioned the upcoming flight, I felt the perfect place for the lock of hair (or the DNA from it) would be with his cast and crew members “hoppin’ galaxies” in deep space. That’s because decades ago when the Big Three were asked if they would go into space if given the chance, De had exclaimed, “In a heartbeat!”
So, in doing this, I’m (belatedly, posthumously) sending him on his way…
I will still have about half a lock left. They wanted me to keep half (although I will also get a necklace memento of some sort with his DNA in it from the amount of hair I sent them) in case the package was lost in transit on the way to the lab. I sent it the fastest way possible (Cristiana asked me to do that) and got a tracking number, and made sure someone signed for it, but no postal system is perfect, and they didn’t want me risking putting it all into one package… Good thinking! (It arrived on the date they said it would.)
I’m so happy I was able to help Celestis complete the Enterprise crew. Little did I know when I took that lock of hair that I’d become someone’s miracle worker almost a quarter century later! I’m humbled, honored, and extremely excited that I will be able to attend and present at the memorial service and attend the launch.
The memorial service will be live-streamed by Celestis and retained forever so people can watch it at their convenience. And I will have three minutes during this memorial service to share memories of De, unlike the memorial service at Paramount in 1999 where I had all of about 45 seconds. I’m very much looking forward to that! I will also be able to record a longer version of it for posterity which they will post on their Memorial Page on YouTube for people to watch and hear in perpetuity. I will get the link and provide it to you as soon as I have it. Not to worry!
More about the Celestis Enterprise Flight:
The Celestis Enterprise Flight is scheduled to launch out of Cape Canaveral FL later this year aboard United Launch Alliance’s Rocket named “Vulcan”.
The Enterprise Flight will travel between 150 million to 300 million kilometers into interplanetary deep space. It will travel beyond the Earth-Moon system and the James Webb telescope, where it will join the other planets, moons, comets, and asteroids in our solar system on a never-ending journey through the cosmos.
Vulcan will first put Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander on a trajectory for its rendezvous with the Moon. The Centaur upper stage will then continue into deep space, entering an orbit around the Sun. When this occurs the Enterprise Flight will then become known as the “Enterprise Station”-the most distant permanent human repository outpost and a pathfinder for the continuing human exploration of space.
This mission will launch over 200 flight capsules containing cremated remains (ashes), messages of greetings, and DNA samples from clients worldwide on an endless journey in interplanetary space.
And on October 15th or thereabout, I will have another BIG announcement having to do with DeForest Kelley. The Kelley “fun” just never ceases around here!
