Gene Roddenberry, the legendary creator of Star Trek,
was born in El Paso, Texas, in 1921. He studied law,
then switched to aeronautical engineering and trained as a pilot.
In 1941 he volunteered for the US Army Air Corps, and won medals
for bombing missions from Guadalcanal. After the war he became
a pilot for Pan Am. After seeing television for the first time,
he decided to become a TV writer, but when he found no openings,
he joined the Los Angeles Police Department and rose to sergeant.
He wrote TV scripts in his spare time, then went freelance.

He was the chief writer for several TV series
before launching Star Trek in 1966.

In October, 1992, a year after his death, a canister of Gene’s
ashes was sent to Houston to the care and keeping of astronaut
Jim Weatherbee. The ashes were sealed in a machined stainless
steel cylinder. Accompanied by a 5" X 7" American flag,
the cylinder was carried on board the space shuttle Columbia,
inventoried only as part of the several pounds of personal property
each astronaut is permitted.

On a giant column of fire and smoke the Columbia rose into the sky
above Florida, taking a small part of Gene along with it.
Gene Roddenberry had made it into space, if only symbolically.
He was a part of our evolution into a space faring society
and his contribution was being honored by the people who had
turned imagination into reality. It was a unique tribute for a man whose
vision inspired many of the people whose creativity and skill took
him into space that day. By their actions, their generosity of spirit,
with this quiet, simple tribute NASA showed that Gene’s optimistic
vision of humanity's future, his Star Trek dream, lived on.

Gene would have loved the adventure.