Leonard Nimoy died in 2015, but his daughter, Julie Nimoy, found a way to Star Trek icon to continue visiting the final border. Among his passengers this morning Blue Origin The New Shepard Mission NS-19 space flight was a small but substantial sample of Nimoy’s memory – a silver pendant with the initials of Spock’s signature phrase: “Live long and prosper.” It is a pendant that his daughter proudly wears to continue her close bond with her father.
However, Julie Nimoy did not board the Blue Origin spacecraft herself. Instead, he lent it to the daughter of another prominent space traveler: Laura Shepard Shortley, whose father was pioneer astronaut Alan Shepard. Nimoy approached Churchley to carry the “LLAP” pendant on her flight into space, and willingly agreed. “My dad would like to launch into space and spread his enduring message of hope and inspiration for everyone to live long and prosper,” Nimoy told Yahoo Entertainment via email.
The younger Nimoy was inspired to approach Blue Origin after one of her father’s former companions on Starfleet made the return trip to the edge of space and back. In October, William Shatner boarded Blue Origin’s first space flight, and became the oldest man of all time to look at the darkness of space. “I hope I never recover from this,” the 90-year-old actor said after the experience, which was filmed for the upcoming Amazon Prime Video documentary. Shatner in space. “I hope I can keep what I feel now. I do not want to lose it. It is much bigger than me – and life.”
Churchley’s entry into the NS-19 was Good morning America host, Michael Strahan; investor Evan Dick; CEO Dylan Taylor. and twin father and son Lane and Cameron Bess. But for many of the spectators who tuned in to watch the flight live, the most important crew member remained Nimoy’s pendant.
