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Scotty's Final Mission
Jane Q. Public writes "According to Ars Technica, the ashes of James Doohan, who played "Scotty" in the original 'Star Trek' series and several movies, were aboard the SpaceX III launch and were lost when the launch vehicle failed." Which totally wouldn't have happened if Scotty was the engineer.
Update: 08/05 00:09 GMT by KD : BoingBoing has a tribute to Doohan from his son.
Update: 08/05 00:09 GMT by KD : BoingBoing has a tribute to Doohan from his son.
He really couldn't bend the laws of physics after all =\
+1 IDisagreeSoHeMustBeATrollOrAnAstroturferOrAShill
Do they get a refund?
That was my first thought when I heard about the ashes.
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
"She canna take much more 'o this - she'll blow!"
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
Not only was he incinerated, but then they blew up the ashes.
"Scotty! Do! something! Now!"
"He can't."
"Why? Can't? He?"
"He's dead, Jim."
mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
That's wessel (as in nuclear), you insensitive clod!
At the bottom of the
Hmmmmm. I thought Scotty's ashes had been lost before:
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/05/10/2249214
Always multiply your estimates by a factor of 4. Seriously, the advice has done me wonders. People really do think that you're a miracle worker.
Once the ashes spread through the atmosphere... ALL of us will have a little Scotty in them from now on.
While this may be the geek in me, I would be honored if my ashes were sent up. Even if the vessel carrying them did not make it all the way up. Least this way my ashes are scattered in the most efficient way possible if/when the rocket goes Kaboom.
...
Sides with any luck some of my ashes will have drifted down and ended up in someone's soup. Eat me!
"Quote me as saying I was mis-quoted." -Groucho Marx
I suspect foul play...
I'm a engineer, Jim, not a fertilizer!
He's dead Jim, dead Jim, dead jim
In a strange way, I see it as a fitting end to Mr. Doohan's physical form. He inspired countless young people to pursue careers in the sciences, and then, even after leaving this world, continues to inspire.
I know that the body is not the person, and I would like to think that his spirit lives on. At least in this way he can be thought of as being everywhere. Scotty was a fictional character, but through that character James Doohan inspired so many people to believe in themselves.
Rest in Peace, Mr. Doohan. You will be missed, but never forgotten.
Hey today's space companies, NASA called from 1969 and said you suck!
stuff |
This is the SECOND time its happened. More like deja vu than old news...Even reality has a dupe now and then.
ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
It is absolutely depressing to me that everyone shows some concern over the ashes of an ACTOR, but ignores the fact that a TRUE SPACE HERO (Gordo Cooper), one of the Mercury 7, was onboard. .... yikes.
You forgot that we'd have to get out of our basements for the Scotty-imbued air to reach us.
Which undoubtedly will please George Takei to no end.
Use your head, can't you, use your head,
You're on earth, there's no cure for that - S. Beckett
The average weight of cremated remains for an adult male is six pounds according to Wikipedia, but weight is so limited in these rocket launches that they're only sending an ounce or two of the remains each time.
So there's plenty more Scotty to go around.
G.
Apparently they forgot to put the ashes of an anonymous crew member in there as well. Everyone knows they are the first to go giving just enough time for the recurring members to get away.
Every time I start to have faith in humanity, I ruin it by driving to work between 7 and 8 am.
There's a huge misconception most people seem to have about this story, so I figured I'd repost my comment from the previous SpaceX story:
It's worth noting though that Celestis, the company which offers the service for placing a person's cremated remains on a space launch, only uses a tiny portion of the ashes on a particular launch. From their FAQ:
http://www.memorialspaceflights.com/faq.asp
Why launch only a symbolic portion?
We offer the launch of a symbolic portion of the cremated remains as a memorial service, not final disposition of all the remains, because although dramatic progress is being made by entrepreneurs in reducing launch costs, spaceflight is still quite expensive. By launching a portion we can offer an affordable service, and also can provide performance assurance.
We will arrange for final disposition of the balance of the cremated remains through a sea scattering service, should you so desire.
Space launches are challenging. What if the orbit is not achieved?
In the event that the Celestis Earth Orbit Service spacecraft does not achieve orbit, we will -- at no additional cost -- place a second sample of the cremated remains aboard our next scheduled mission.