Scotty's Final Mission 221
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.
I guess it's true.... (Score:5, Funny)
He really couldn't bend the laws of physics after all =\
Re:I guess it's true.... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I guess it's true.... (Score:4, Funny)
Laws of physics, laws of physics!
It's worse than that (Score:5, Funny)
Re:It's worse than that (Score:5, Funny)
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right maybe he jury-rigged the ashes capsule backup transporter to keep his ashes in the memory banks recursively reconstructing the signal using any available solar arrays
if anyone's ashes could do it, I think we know whose they would be
Re:It's worse than that (Score:4, Funny)
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, I think we just reverse the polarity.
or wait for him to regenerate, or use emergency temporal shift.......wait I think we both have the wrong show.
Re:I guess it's true.... (Score:5, Funny)
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You're confusing physics with anatomy
I'm pretty sure physics is involved.
Re:I guess it's true.... (Score:5, Funny)
Biology is just applied chemistry, which is really just applied physics.
Re:I guess it's true.... (Score:4, Funny)
Thus spoke the Mathematician.
Re:I guess it's true.... (Score:5, Funny)
"Body odor". Thus spoke the others.
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Sooo...? (Score:5, Funny)
Do they get a refund?
That was my first thought when I heard about the ashes.
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Well, let's hope no robots from krikkit [wikipedia.org] try to steal the ashes
He warned 'em (Score:5, Funny)
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"I can't g' up again! I g't nah more ashes!"
Talk about overkill... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Talk about overkill... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Talk about overkill... (Score:5, Funny)
They'd have to be able to get in to orbit first and it would seem that is what is giving them trouble.
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Re:Talk about overkill... (Score:4, Interesting)
Well, he did get his ashes scattered.
Re:Talk about overkill... (Score:4, Funny)
And all along it was Bones who was worried about having his molecules scattered across space..
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Nah. It's pretty obvious that William Shatner snuck in and stole them, then sabotaged the flight to cover his tracks. The poor guy. So broke he had to resort to doing crummy tv commercials and now this :(
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The captain? (Score:2)
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Dammit Scotty! More power to shiel ... (BOOM)
The only comforting thing about that scenario is Kirk getting blown up in mid sentence, instead of getting blown in mid sentence.
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Quite right. Scotty needs someone to tell him he has 4 hours for an 8 hour job so he can fix it in 2.
Re:The captain? (Score:5, Funny)
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.
Re:The captain? (Score:5, Funny)
That's wessel (as in nuclear), you insensitive clod!
Not enough power (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Not enough power (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Not enough power (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Not enough power (Score:5, Funny)
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He might not be so lucky to be everywhere, for all we know he's spending the rest of his unlife surrounded by Whoopi Goldberg.
Scotty (Score:5, Funny)
"Scotty! Do! something! Now!"
"He can't."
"Why? Can't? He?"
"He's dead, Jim."
Turning in his Somewhat Charred Grave (Score:5, Informative)
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/05/10/2249214 [slashdot.org]
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.
Re:Turning in his Somewhat Charred Grave (Score:5, Funny)
A good engineer always has a backup. Including of their own ashes.
Re:Turning in his Somewhat Charred Grave (Score:5, Informative)
Sadly, I think they were recovered [engadget.com]...Which makes this the SECOND time the launch has failed.
Who wants to lay odds on them finding the little charred capsule of ashes and making a third go of it?
Re:Turning in his Somewhat Charred Grave (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Turning in his Somewhat Charred Grave (Score:5, Insightful)
Since they're already the products of combustion, it's pretty likely the ashes survived. Unfortunately, they'd probably be pretty tough to find.
Re:Turning in his Somewhat Charred Grave (Score:5, Funny)
"The third rocket crash landed, then blew up. But the *fourth* rocket...stayed up!"
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Thankfully there was no swamp nearby.
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I know, but it's not impossible. They're not exactly flammable, and if I understand correctly, they're encased in metal (though nothing that would withstand a massive impact).
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From Wikipedia:
Almost two years after his death, approximately one-quarter ounce (7 grams) of Doohan's ashes were sent into space, as he had requested in his will. The ashes, along with those of Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper as well as almost 200 others, were launched on the SpaceLoft XL rocket, on April 28, 2007, when the rocket briefly entered outer space in a four-minute suborbital flight before parachuting to earth, as planned, with the ashes
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Well, that's the thing about ashes. You've got more than one gram of them.
My friend John (motorcycle accident, 24 years old, very tragic) had 1mg of him launched into space with Doohan's first set of ashes, the rest were scattered in a more terrestrial manner.
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Dude, my friend died.
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wouldn't it be better to send a teaspoon of your DNA on each space-bound vessel you can find. I mean you never know...
I think he would have been OK with that (Score:2)
You can't argue that he was a part of helping humans reach into space, whether through inspiration or tagging along posthumously
I wold be honored none the less (Score:5, Interesting)
Sides with any luck some of my ashes will have drifted down and ended up in someone's soup. Eat me!
Nah. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:I wold be honored none the less (Score:5, Interesting)
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IF you're asking about scattering of ashes. I have no idea. I just like the idea of being sprinkled everywhere. Just a personal preference. That and the thought of having my descendants having to maintain my jar is just
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The answer actually lies in your own use of language. Symbolism is the use of pattern matching to make one event mimic another. Pattern matching is the core of our sense of beauty, so these things are inherently beautiful to us.
Superstition involves allowing your behavior to be altered by unprovable connections. We aren't changing our behavior for symbolism any more than necessary to wonder at the entertaining symmetries.
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"Amen."
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The dilithium crystals really couldnae take it! (Score:2)
Of course the rocket builders will now have to ask themselves how it managed to get to warp factor 9.9 in the first place.
What Happened This Time...? (Score:2)
Either someone made another metric/english conversion error, or someone got into the Romulan Ale again...
KHANN!!!!! (Score:5, Funny)
Dammit! (Score:5, Funny)
I'm a engineer, Jim, not a fertilizer!
Rest in Peace, Mr. Doohan (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
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...and that's fitting enough inspiration to continue to inspire?
Darn skippy it is. It'll inspire 'em to make a rocket that doesn't explode. Make sense?
Tribbles in the system again (Score:2)
Maybe some tribbles [wikipedia.org] got into the system.
1969 called... (Score:5, Funny)
Hey today's space companies, NASA called from 1969 and said you suck!
You misquoted them! (Score:2)
I doubt they would recognize it by what it has become: slow, stodgy, bureaucratic.
Gordon "Gordo" Cooper (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
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You made it sound like it was him and not his ashes on board. I mean, not that there'd be a difference now, but still.
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More depressing is that people care about anybody's ashes at all. It's just some worthless carbon/nitrogen/hydrogen/oxgygen/etc leftovers; the valuable pattern of mind was lost (without backup) long ago.
Re:Gordon "Gordo" Cooper (Score:4, Insightful)
I think you make a valid point. Gordo Cooper is certainly worthy of mention, if someone is going to cover this story.
But "absolutely depressing"? I don't come away with that, myself. Star Trek was a HUGELY popular TV show, that thrived against all odds at the time. For a while there, props were literally being created from stuff dug out of garbage dumpsters, due to a lack of funds. Its creator had a real vision and message of hope to express. It wasn't just another crappy sit-com cranked out to make a buck or two. It,arguably, did more to spark people's imaginations about the possibilities for space travel than anything else at the time. I can't prove it, but I sure would't be at all surprised to find that many of NASA's current and former employees would list Star Trek as one of their inspirations growing up.
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James Doohan wasn't just an actor, he was veteran of the Normandy landing, serving as an officer in the Canadian army. Anybody who stormed ashore at Normandy is a true HERO.
RIP James Doohan (Score:2, Insightful)
Shouted at the heavens, (Score:2)
"Whelchy!!!!" [wikipedia.org]
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I believe "Welshy" would be the correct spelling.
get it? Scotty, being a Scot, from Scotland. Welshy, being Welsh, from Wales. I'm amazed you still found that part of WNFHGB funny, given that it evidently swooped over your head.
Like being made into twice fried rice (Score:2)
Or maybe refried beans
Or... (Score:2)
Not a bad sending off (Score:2, Funny)
What a send-off!
Huh (Score:2)
Second Time (Score:3, Interesting)
They did get into space (Score:2)
They did get into space, just not into orbit.
They wanted to save him but - (Score:3, Insightful)
"He'll die in there!"
"Elon! He's dead already.."
James Doohan - RIP
Only 94 more tries left... (Score:5, Funny)
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.
WTF, over!?! (Score:2, Insightful)
Seconded (Score:2)
Obviously, (Score:2)
NOT Scotty's "Final Mission" (Score:5, Informative)
There's a huge misconception most people seem to have about this story, so I figured I'd repost my comment [slashdot.org] 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 [memorialspaceflights.com]
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.
onlye a few grams at a time (Score:2)
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Not exactly...just life imitating /. It's a dupe.
Re:Old News? (Score:5, Informative)
This is the SECOND time its happened. More like deja vu than old news...Even reality has a dupe now and then.
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His ashes were apparently found, but this is the story I was remembering which is why I thought it was old news.
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Third according to TFA...
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Re:Fucking /. hypocrits (Score:4, Funny)
What is an anti-rocketry, SUV-driving NASCAR redneck doing here? Oh trolling, never mind.
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human bodies are biofuel, burning one up and spreading the ashes about is carbon neutral.
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I, for one, welcome our NECROTIC----NO! must resist meme...