“Dude, this is a gnarly doobie,” said Timothy Leary.
“Doobies go where no man has gone before,” said Gene Roddenberry.
“May I get anyone anything?” said Harvey B. Elliott.
Imagine a conversation among those whose ashes are floating in outer space. The trio above was rocketed into orbit in 1997, the first such burial among the stars.
Kristi O’Harran / The Herald
Elliott’s nephew, James Elliott of Everett, reminisced about his uncle this month after hearing that the ashes of actor James Doohan, who played the beloved Scotty on “Star Trek,” and those of 185 others will be similarly launched this month.
“My uncle was a great guy,” Elliott said. “He would do anything for anybody.”
Harvey Elliott, a longtime Lynnwood resident, was raised in Seattle and graduated from Garfield High School. His mother was a waitress at the Space Needle. He joined the Navy and served during the Korean War aboard the aircraft carrier USS Essex.
A professional boxer who retired as a truck driver, he loved to watch sports on television. Elliott’s nephew said his uncle also was the assistant supervisor for the King County Humane Society. Several newspaper clippings show Harvey Elliott rescuing wild critters around Seattle.
According to www.memorial spaceflights.com, Harvey Elliott liked fishing and hunting deer, although he rarely shot any. His wife, Vera, said he loved nature so much that he was reluctant to pull the trigger.
Elliott was active in the Lions Club, particularly a program to help people suffering from blindness. He frequently wondered why we could put a man on the moon but couldn’t solve the many problems of Third World countries. He cared about others, whether they were next door or on the other side of the globe.
After he died of lung cancer in 1995, he was cremated. His son applied to have some of his father’s ashes sent into space on the first flight up, and the rest scattered at one of Elliott’s favorite spots, Ross Lake in the North Cascades.
The Founders Flight capsule with his ashes bore a personal message: “Dad, thanks for the love.”
On that first flight, according to the Associated Press, the ashes of LSD guru Timothy Leary and “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry took a ride into space with 22 others, tucked under the belly of an airplane that took off from the Canary Islands off the coast of Spain.
A Pegasus rocket propelled them into orbit. The rocket was launched horizontally from the plane while in flight. A company in Texas, Celestis Inc., bought space on the rocket.
The ashes of each of the 24 “passengers” were placed into a vial the size of a lipstick holder. Families paid $4,800 for the service. It was estimated that their ashes would orbit the Earth for six years before they re-entered the atmosphere and burned up.
Other passengers included:
* A 5-year-old New York City boy who loved space.
* A former avid traveler whose family has also scattered some of his ashes at golf courses and countries he had always wanted to visit.
* Physicist Gerard O’Neill, who advised NASA on ways to colonize space.
On the trip scheduled for this month, Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper’s ashes will be on board for the SpaceX’s second Falcon 1 launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, according to news reports.
Arrangements are being made by Houston-based Space Services Inc., which has sent up five post-cremation memorial space flights. This trip also will include Doohan, a telephone technician, a nurse and a college student. Their families paid as much as $5,300 for the service.
James Elliott, 48, has fond memories of his uncle and the wonderful fishing trips they shared.
“He was a great listener and advice giver,” Elliott said. “If you had a problem, he would try to solve it. He was forgiving and giving. His spirit will live.”
He said his uncle would have enjoyed being part of history.
“I find it interesting, these great minds. He’s probably solving problems for them right now.”
Columnist Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451 or oharran@ heraldnet.com.
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