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Ashes of Doohan Sent Into Space
Stephen Samuel writes "The CBC is reporting that
Star Trek actor James Doohan ("Scotty") achieved his hopes of having his ashes launched into space when a package containing some of his ashes, ashes of Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper and about 200 other people were carried into sub-orbital space by a 6 meter (20') rocket. The rocket was launched by UP Aerospace from "Spaceport America", a commercial spaceport being developed in the southern New Mexico desert."
So "beam me up, Scotty" is now going to translate to "kicking the bucket", eh.
You made it into space. If only briefly.
>>the rocket soon parachuted back to Earth
"Aye, Cap'n, I cannough change the lews of physics"
Interestingly, Mr. Doohan was a huge fan of steam locomotives, far away from the high tech of Star Trek, donating his time to a museum, and acting as a locomotive engineer (ok, "driver" to some of you).
tph
Hmmmm... I would of thought some of the peeps at NASA could of thought of a more individual gesture than that. I realise he's not a REAL spaceman, but surely everyone at the big N A S A can tie a bit of their personal motivation back to good old Scottie....
Beam me up.
TFA doesn't say, but I presume it's aimed towards (planet) Genesis?
...that's great and all, but what the hell is with this picture on UP Aerospace's website? Is she exposing the vast NASA conspiracy to hide the FACT that space is just painted on cardboard a few feet above our heads?
If you've got a small rocket (6 meters), that has already failed once, it's better to put part of the remains of a person in it than trying to fit a live person into it. So from that point of view I can understand this experiment.
But to shoot ashes into space, while knowing they will return anyway, and first viewing an unsucccessful launch (ugh), what's the point? Glad it worked this time, having to return a third time, only to do it all over again... that might have been hard for the relatives.
Ugh, I forgot what happens when you browse at -1.
From TFA: Since it was a suborbital flight, the rocket soon parachuted back to Earth, coming down at the White Sands Missile Range. While technically a spaceflight, it was more or less a really high-altitude rocket.
-Arthur
Cave ne ante ullas catapultas ambules
May your dilithium crystals be fully charged, your matter/anti-matter reaction balanced, your wee bairns well cared for, and the transport to your final shore leave free of malfunctions.
Energise.
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
Is sub-orbital space the not-so-final frontier? Is he boldly almost going?
ccalam - acoustic versions of new songs.
NASA's first manned space flight carried only one passenger into space and back to earth. UP Aerospace sent over 200 passengers into space and return them in one piece (sort of)!
The only thing new in this world is the history that you don't know.[Harry Truman]
I'm not normally very sentimental about human remains, but this is cool. It's an expression of hope. I loved Scotty...
It's less than GEO, MEO/ICO nor LEO, so it's less than 200km (124 miles) orbit in thermoshpere. One could think ash doesn't have much atmospheric drag, so it won't rain down on somebody.atleast before 2010. People have polluted land, air and oceans, now the space, oh the times, oh the times.
Ironicly, the best person to fix this rocket would have been scotty.
-Ours is the wisdom of Solomon, the magic of Merlyn, the fall of Icaris.
Now all that remains is to put a pint of seawater on the moon with the appropriately inscribed air cylinder shipping label.
/obscure, see if you can get it.
When you consider that the atoms that made up his body were most likely created by stellar nuclear synthesis and distributed around the universe by supernova.
If they shot my toenail clippings into space I wouldn't really feel like I had been there. No matter how many clippings were used.
Once I was a four stone apology. Now I am two separate gorillas.
I remember reading a bio of James Doohan when he died. My esteem went up for him greatly when I read that he was a WW2 vet. Born in Vancouver (woohoo!) and led a group of men at Juno beach on D-Day taking a few bullets in the process. The world seemed a little bit colder to me when I heard that he died. Fare thee well James.
It took a small part of his his ashes up then brought them back down... I bet that wasn't what he was thinking.
When you troll you should at least have *some* knowledge (just a tiny bit) about the topic. And if you think you possess such knowledge I'm curious: Exactly what do think "sub-orbital" means??
/. is a fun place to troll but this was just pathetic. Oh well, I'm sure you'll get the hang of it. Most ACs do...
I know
Just read this at Wikipedia: "One of the many legendary stories of his flying years tells of Doohan slaloming a plane -- variously cited as a Hurricane or a jet trainer -- between mountainside telegraph poles to prove it could be done, which earned him a serious reprimand." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Doohan
Perhaps there's a place where a version of Scotty remains.
It is suborbital, so the ashes will, eventually, fall back to earth. Their net energy is still negative.
SCOTT (to Waiter): "What in blazes is this?"
WAITER (confused): "Didn't you order Scotch?"
SCOTT: "Lad, I was drinking scotch about a hundred years before you were born and I can tell you that whatever this is, it is definitely not scotch."
DATA (to Waiter): "I believe I may be of some assistance. Captain Scott is unaware of the existence of synthehol."
SCOTT: "Synthehol?"
DATA: "Yes. It is an alcohol substitute which is now normally served aboard starships. It simulates the appearance, smell, and taste of alcohol, but the intoxicating effects can be easily dismissed."
SCOTT: "You're not quite... human are you?"
DATA: "No, sir. I am an android. My name is Commander Data."
SCOTT: "Synthetic scotch and synthetic commanders..."
DATA: "I believe Guinan does keep a limited supply of non-syntheholic products. Perhaps one of them would be to your liking."
Data bends down and reaches under the bar... then stands up and puts a very old bottle of a green liquid on the bar.
SCOTT: "What is it?"
DATA: "It is..." (tries to inspect the label) "It is..." (takes a sniff of it) "...it is green."
Opening scene:
Captain Kirk [on bridge]: Sulu, what is that thing floating in space?
Sulu: I don't know Sir.
Kirk [pointing]: well, zoom in on it, and see if we can find out what it is!
Sulu: okey dokey!
Sulu zooms screen in, writing on package becomes visible
Kirk: zoom in on that writing, it says something!!
Sulu: Yessir
[PACKAGE WRITING]: OMFG!! This is so L33t!! I got mah ashes dropped in space. Take that Kirk, you friggin Lassie!! I so roXoRZ1071 -0- You've been PWned!
I am open source, and Linux baby!
He's dead, Jim.
If I were going to have my ashes sent into space, I'd want my own personal canister aboard a larger payload that gets launched out into space; as in, keeps on going and going and going forever, away from Earth (at least until I hit a planet or star or something). Maybe even a tiny ion engine to continually accelerate.
Aikon-
Not reading the linked-to article is perfectly acceptable here on Slashdot (well, at least, completely predictable) -- but not even reading the posting? There's not much more that a geek can do. While technically a spaceflight, it was more or less a really high-altitude rocket. yeah -- and so is a moon-shot
Free Software: Like love, it grows best when given away.
Doesn't everyone know about Bob Anson?
(or is it just me... I was in the Science Museum, London once and the curator was surprised I could give Mike Collins name without even thinking about it - "usually no-one knows who the third man was")...
I was lucky to meet Mr. Doohan at a book signing in Los Angeles 15 years ago. May he rest in peace and I am glad he got his final wish. Mr. Scott is definitely my favorite Star Trek character and thank you so much for acting him out.
...
... um, it's green!)
"He called you a tin-plated dictator with delusions of grandeur."
"So, that's when you hit him?"
"No, sir, you told us to be restrained."
"He called the Enterprise a pile of garbage and that's when I hit him."
"You're relieved of duty and confined to quarters until further notice."
"Aye, sir! That will give me time to catch up on my technical reading!"
-sb (What are you drinking? It's
to have my ashes shot into the sun.
Because we all that we are came from the sun and other suns, I feel it would be a genuine continuance of the circle of life to return whence we came. Forget "ashes to ashes", I prefer "atoms to atoms"..
The sun is the real giver of life.
Scotty and Captain Pike launched in the same week!
-- thinkyhead software and media
Oh. Wait. Never mind.
Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
I thought it was a new Harry Potter book!
Don't go to a brothel if you want to buy broth
Wow, I'm sure that if he was alive, he would discount you as the angry and ineffectual waste of space that you are.
(Apologies to Carl Sagan)
But we are. Every one of us and everything we know around us is made up of star debris. We are all the products of fusion reactions in stars. We are made of atoms that are billions and billions of years old.
We have been deep in space. We have ridden on asteroids, meteorites, comets, and planets.
It's kind of cool to think about it.
"Ashes of Doohan." Great band name.
I thought they were going to beam his ashes into space!
of what I would want done with my ashes. Doohan had a lover for outer space. I want my ashes shot into a woman. If there was any DNA left, I guess they could name the kid "Ashley"
What is it about well-loved public figures that brings out the snotty, jealous little gits like you?
Jimmy Doohan accomplished far more than you ever will. He inspired two generations of engineers and scientists. What have you ever achieved?
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
He was also part of the Normandy Invasion in World War 2. He lost a finger in the war. He doesn't need to rest on his acting skills, most people already regard him as a true hero.
In Soviet Russia the insensitive clod is YOU!
to have my ashes snorted, or to have them sent into space.
Ashes of Doohan: Band name or sci-fi/fantasy series?
Visitor: So, these are the ashes of Scotty, eh?
Techician: Yeah.
Visitor: (taps off end of cigar into urn) Looks like Scotty put on a little weight.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
i hope that they were put in separate boxes because if, someone in a thousand years opens that box and tries to rebuild a human from dna.
,,,,wait i'm pretty sure i'v been there and done that, why do i have breast?
It's going to be a serious mess of a human.
My name is scotty, or is it doohan, maybe it's martha
I once laid a turd that looked exactly like you. I was pretty pleased with it, anyway.
Scotty was the worst main character from a massively overrated, though sometimes excellent, TV show. Unless looking fat and stupid is considered good acting, that was mainly Doohan's fault. Did he EVER deliver a convincing line?
If you imbeciles want to toss over this slow-news-day non-event, knock yourselves out. I can't believe the BBC wasted a live link on it, personally.
seethe
A story announicng that Braga and Berman's ashes had been sent into space...
There is no God, and Dirac is his prophet.
You're so funny when you're seething with jealousy.
Doohan entertained millions of people for decades. People miss him. When you die, nobody will care.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
It was less of a waste of time and money than the ten seconds your parents spent conceiving your worthless carcass, asshole.
20 January 2017: the End of an Error.