Celestis has flown a number of notable participants over the years. Its first flight –
The Founders Flight — carried cremated remains of
Star Trek creator
Gene Roddenberry and 1960s icon
Timothy Leary into
Earth orbit. Also on board were remains of physicist and space visionary
Gerard K. O'Neill, noted rocket scientist
Krafft A. Ehricke, and 20 others. Dr.
Eugene Shoemaker — a famous planetary geologist and co-discoverer of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 – was launched to the Moon on NASA's
Lunar Prospector mission in 1998: Celestis helped friends of Dr. Shoemaker include a sample of his cremated remains on that mission. Mercury 7 astronaut
L. Gordon Cooper,
Star Trek actor
James Doohan ("
Mr. Scott"), and a host of others from various walks of life were launched on board
The Legacy Flight in 2007.
Titanic explorer Ralph White was on board the
Discovery and
Pioneer flights. Family members and friends of flight participants usually can attend the launch. Celestis usually arranges for a tour of the launch facility and hosts a non-sectarian memorial service prior to the launch. ==Flights==