TAMPA — Next month a historic rocket launch is scheduled to take place at Cape Canaveral. On board will be the DNA and cremated remains of more than 200 people, including three U.S. presidents.
Tampa man Jim Aungst will be among those honored. His family said Jim always loved looking at stars as a kid.
“It really started with my dad sneaking us onto the rooftop. Dad would sneak a telescope out there and Jim started with the Big Dipper and then point to the Little Dipper,” said sister Susan Aungst.
Susan said her brother’s love of space as a kid continued into adulthood, becoming a real-life rocket scientist.
“In fact, he helped build the Patriot Missile, and that actually helped save my life because I was a ground combat commander in Dessert Storm,” said Susan.
So when Jim passed away in 2021, the family decided to give him the proper send-off, literally, as his ashes will be launched into space on board the ULA Vulcan’s inaugural flight on January 8.
“I don’t even know a better way to celebrate Jim’s life. I’m just so thankful this option was available to us,” said Susan.
“We have a saying, ‘you’ll never see high fives and cheering and hugging at a funeral but you will see it at ours,’” said Colby Youngblood, President of Celestis’ Inc.
Celestis’ Inc. has been doing memorial space flights since 1997. However, their latest mission is extra special.
“It will be the first time we launched flight capsules out into deep space and the first time anybody has done that,” said Youngblood.
They’re calling it the Enterprise Flight because alongside Jim’s ashes will be the ashes of several cast and crew who worked on the original TV show, Star Trek, including show creator Gene Roddenberry.
“It will be the largest depository of our civilization out into the solar system, so it’s a pretty cool mark in history,” said Youngblood.
A total of 264 sets of ashes and DNA will then circle the orbit of the sun for the next several years until they fall to the earth as a shooting star. Among them are former U.S. Presidents George Washington, Dwight Eisenhower, and John F. Kennedy.
“We were gifted a hair collection of historical figures and celebrities a few years ago, and we thought it would be a proper send-off to put what we consider some important presidents on the Enterprise flights,” said Youngblood.
As for the ashes of Jim Aungst, his sister can’t wait to send them up.
“To know that he is out there every time we look up, it’s going to be comforting actually; he’ll say, I bet my view is better than your view,” said Susan.
For more information on Celestis’ Inc. and future memorial space flights, go to www.celestis.com.
