Scotty Scooped Up

mmarlett writes "Scotty has been found. 'The ashes of late Star Trek actor James Doohan have been found in mountains in the US state of New Mexico, where they landed after a brief flight in space.' And pretty much where they thought they put them, too."

But..

Scotty doesn't know, Scotty doesn't know..

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Seriously did noone catch the Euro Trip reference... that had me laughing immediately...

Still, getting lost in the mountains isn't quite getting cheated on... but getting sent to space for FOUR MINUTES!!! That would make me spin in my creamted grave...

what impact did he leave ?

whats the photo of the impact site like ? youtube ?

Cool!

That has to be among the most excited ashes in the world.

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More like the most excited ashes in the whole galaxy!

The problem with things like this is that the stuff we're made of isn't who we are. Not in a metaphorical sense, but literally.
If you look at an old photo of yourself what you see is no longer what y

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Maybe there are more appropriate ways to pay your respects that actually mean something..

It's symbolic. To many sentient beings, symbols mean something.

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Yes, but perhaps not to Scotty. I think that's what he meant anyway. And what I meant. ;-)

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One more thing I need to add on... I'd personally think that doing something that actually matters to us beyond on an emotional level would be a nicer thing to do, such as helping fund e.g. Alzheimer research in his honor. While it wouldn't save Scotty, it

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The cost to Jimmy's family of doing this was only $495. A wee bit of him basically hitched a ride on an test mission that was happening anyways.

Re:Cool!

I'd personally think that doing something that actually matters to us beyond on an emotional level would be a nicer thing to do, such as helping fund e.g. Alzheimer research in his honor.

What you're advocating is the old "Isn't there anything more important?" logical fallacy.

We should, therefore, stop all human activity that doesn't directly involve keeping people alive and basically healthy. Which, incidentally, means artists and specifically actors like Mr. Doohan would be out of work, and a complete unknown.

Doing the "emotional" stuff is actually quite important. What's the point of living 150 years with no art, no entertainment, nothing fun or enjoyable at all?

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That's illogical. [Does the eyebrow thing]

Re:Cool!

If you take the absoulte view that the body is nothing but a meatbag you used to live in, then no there's no way to "pay your respects". The person you are calling has left this existance and is out of reach. What's left is only your public display to others.

I'd say most people don't work that way. People don't put flowers on graves to show off for others, but for the buried person and themselves. What has meaning and what is sacred is measured in beliefs and intentions, not in results.

Everything about a dead person is a token. The body or the ashes is a token. The gravestone is a token. The flowers are a token. Sending him ashes on a small slingshot into space is a token. Sending them permanently out into space would be a token. If we raise a statue of him it's a token. If we hang up a picture on the family wall it's a token.

In short, if it has meaning to the people willing to do it then STFU and let them pay their respects. The you can pay your respect to the dead the way you want, or not at all. But don't go around claiming to have the answer to "more appropriate ways to pay your respects that actually mean something" unless you want me pissing on your grave (does that have meaning?).

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I have a feeling my grandparent post's poster would rather donate his body to science than have a grave anyways.

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If you take the absoulte view that the body is nothing but a meatbag you used to live in, then no there's no way to "pay your respects".

Maybe you're paying your respects to the person and not the meatbag? Maybe that was my whole point?

But don't go around claiming to have the answer to "more appropriate ways to pay your respects that actually mean something" unless you want me pissing on your grave (does that have meaning?).

If at some point you need a kidney transplant you might end up pissing on my grave using my own kidney. Maybe if you ever need a transplant you'll think

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The problem with things like this is that the stuff we're made of isn't who we are. Not in a metaphorical sense, but literally.
If you look at an old photo of yourself what you see is no longer what you are made of (except your teeth, if you're an looking

4 Minutes in Space

The article says his remains spent only 4 minutes in space (or "at the edge of space")

It seems as though all of these high profile space-related personalities, when they have heir remains famously 'sent into space' neglect to mention the trip is always temporary.

I wonder if there will ever be an option to send one's remains into deep space. Surely there might even be some kind of value in hurling as many human bodies as we can as far out into the abyss of the universe as is possible. The bacteria present on a full corpse could, if it landed on a hospitable planet, thrive and create a new ecosystem. Or, in the exraordinarily unlikely event that billions of year hence, one of these space coffins encountered some intelligent life, we sould have given THEM proof there was was other life in the universe.

Of course these last two assume that bodies would be sent into space uncremated, which isn't all that practical I guess, but even cremated remains ought to be hurled out into deep space in my opinion.

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Yes, can someone with the knowledge explain to us why they couldn't send this into deep space? How much more costly is it to do such a thing, with such a small cargo?

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Yes, can someone with the knowledge explain to us why they couldn't send this into deep space?

So that they could sell the engraved plaque option at an extra price. I think that's in the Rules of Acquisition somewhere. Oops, wrong Star Trek series.

Re:4 Minutes in Space

The rocket was already going (for other reasons), so the trip was already paid for. Doing a special beyond-orbital shot just to send someone's ashes out there would be... well, it would equal the cost of building and launching an entire larger-than-usual rocket.

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I seem to recall from an interview with Rutan ( or one of his Spaceship One engineers? I forget ) they mentioned that the energy difference between getting to 'space' ( approx 100 miles ) and getting there with enough speed to stay in orbit differed by a f

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Correction: instead of 100 miles, I meant to say 100K meters, which is about 60 miles.

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I believe it was also just a few grams of each person's remains.

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Of course these last two assume that bodies would be sent into space uncremated, which isn't all that practical I guess, but even cremated remains ought to be hurled out into deep space in my opinion.

It may become practical if the space elevator gets built

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That was the whole point of SS Botany Bay. Watch "Space Seed", then Star Trek II.

Except in that case they neglected to kill off Khan and his followers BEFORE sending them on their way.

Re:4 Minutes in Space

Except in that case they neglected to kill off Khan and his followers BEFORE sending them on their way.

So are you saying his plan was to be sent off into space not quite dead, then come back and have William Shatner scream

DOOOOOOOOHHHAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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So are you saying his plan was to be sent off into space not quite dead, then come back and have Chekov scream

Fixed it for you.

Flaming zombie corpses attack from space

Of course these last two assume that bodies would be sent into space uncremated, which isn't all that practical I guess, but even cremated remains ought to be hurled out into deep space in my opinion.

Couldn't they put uncremated bodies into a very low, unstable orbit and let them re-enter the atmosphere and burn up on their own?

I'm assuming that a human body would burn up long before it hit the ground. I can only imagine that it would be traumatic if

Fortunately,

the passengers were already dead.

Rocket Scientists...

Nothing to add, but it just had to be mentioned: http://www.lechatnoirboutique.com/prodimages/Coffe e%20Mug%20-%20Far%20Side%20Rocket%20Scientists-sm. jpg [lechatnoirboutique.com]

Well, mission accomplished

That is, if mocking an actor's ashes was the mission.

And for some reason everyone keeps calling the guy "Scotty". His name was James Doohan. The people who paid and organized this trip were apparently not the smartest people around.

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Actually, James Doohan was fine with being called Scotty. From the Wikipedia: "Doohan was often quoted as saying, 'Scotty is ninety-nine percent James Doohan and one percent accent.'" Doohan was well-loved by Star Trek fans, and if he wasn't then no one wo

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And we're happy he's home and mildly amused by his journey, as he probably would've been.

Right, pathos is stronger than logic, every time. Thanks for proving that.

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I understand; in death, we have a name.
His name was James Doohan.
His name was James Doohan.
His name was James Doohan.

New star trek episode

This whole debacle really needs to live forever in the form of a Star Trek episode somehow.

Ye canna change the laws o'physics, Cap'n!

What goes up, must come down.

Obligatory...

He's dead, Jim.

(I can't believe it hasn't been posted yet...)

Genesis Device

Never one around when you need it most.

What? No movie?

How typical! When that pointy-eared Spock was lost on a planet, we got to sit through a whole movie while they tried to find him. But nooooo such luck for the probably best engineer of the galaxy.

Serves them right next time their dilithium crytals are melt

Not New Mexico...

Scotty was found preserved in a transporter buffer.

I need more power Scotty!

Maybe next time he'll listen.

A Hitchhiker's guide...

When my father-in-law died we actually looked into Celestis for a space launch. At the time, they were offering several options. Since they basically rent space in whatever launches are going up, it really depends on who is going where and if they can hitc

Other stuff that gets thrown back down

So do you think that all those children's letters to God were incinerated while entering the Earth's atmosphere, or what?

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It was his spamfilter...

The guy is supposedly alknowing, so why do you have to bug him with a rocket filled with letters? He already knew what you were going to write before you wrote the letter, even before you were born. Didn't you read the part you must

Is the picture from the recovery?

They didn't do a very good job cremating the body.

New Star Trek movie title revealed

... The Search for Scotty.

A leaked script claims Kirk's final words of the film are:

"... Of my friend, I can only say this: of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most... scottish."

Cue rousing bag pipes and last orders at the bar.

Appearing next week on Ebay...

Yes folks, step right up and get your own personal piece of StarTrek memorabilia - the ashes of James Doohan, sealed into a glass relica of the starship Enterprise NCC1701, suitable for framing, or Christmas tree ornamentation. Due to technical difficulti

Respect

James Doohan in his way did a fuck-of-a-lot for the space industry. How much would it cost NASA to put him into space? Absolutely peanuts in relation to the rest of the fucking waste on those programs. And they'd get a fuck load of PUBLICITY into the barga

Re:a brief flight in space

Well commercial interests are hurt if our space-trash (beautiful way to talk about Scotty's remains by the way ;)) brings down a satellite so we care about it. Whereas commercial interests are hurt if we do something about the environment, so we don't care about it. Really quite simply.

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All over the galaxy according to the Legends of Dune

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Just a wild guess: you're German.