Scott Finally Beamed Up

As discussed several times before on this blog [here, here, and here], on July 20, 2005, the actor James Doohan passed away at age 85.  Mr. Doohan is well-known for his portrayal of the chief engineer, Scotty, on the Enterprise, a starship traversing the universe in the television and movie Star Trek franchise.

After several delays, the rocket launch to send some of his cremains into space took place on Saturday, April 28, 2007.  According to Wendy Brundige, Beam Me Up, Scotty, ABC News, April 28, 2007, the launch was a success and include the cremains of about 200 people.  However,

Saturday’s launch is a suborbital mission, meaning the spacecraft — and the remains onboard — reach the outer reaches of the atmosphere and fall back to Earth.

“We launch his remains into space and return them so there’s a keepsake of a little bit of Scotty who has flown to space,” Chafer said.

But Chafer said another portion of Doohan’s ashes will fly on a future mission, when they will be released into orbit.