Talk about the final frontier! This October, the ashes of Star Trek’s James Doohan will finally be launched into space. Doohan, who played engineer Lt. Cmdr. Montgomery ‘Scotty’ Scott on the beloved show, died July 20, 2005 at the age of 85. His ashes were supposed to go into space shortly after that but the rockets required further testing.
Scotty won’t be going into space alone. There will be the ashes of 100 additional people going with him. Astronaut Gordon Cooper will be among those going along for the trip. Cooper was one of the original Mercury 7 astronauts. He piloted Faith 7 (the final Project Mercury mission), commanded the Gemini 5 mission, and served as a backup astronaut for Gemini 12 and Apollo 10. Overall, Cooper spent 222 hours in space.
Who is the company that is doing this? It is a Houston, TX based company called Space Services, Inc. This will actually be their fifth flight into outer space. Their first flight, Celestis 01, was launched on April 21, 1997. That rocket included the remains of 60’s icon Timothy Leary and Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. The Ad Astra Flight (Celestis 02) was launched on February 10, 1998, Luna 01 was launched January 6, 1998, and the Millennial Flight (Celestis 03) was launched on December 20, 1999. Since then, there has only been one other flight, the Odyssey Flight (Celestis 04) on September 21, 2001.
Those who participate in this come from all different walks of life. Some are people who flew, were scientists, or astronauts and some are children taken from life too early by illness. Many are those who just dreamed of space and wished to spend eternity there. Space Services offers different types of memorial services:
– The Earth Return Service where a loved one’s ashes take flight then return to Earth (starting at $495).
– The Earth Orbit Service where the ashes are launched into Earth’s orbit (starting at $1,295).
– The Luna Service where ashes are launched into luna orbit or surface (starting at $12,500).
– The Voyager Service where ashes launched into deep space (starting at $12,500).
What do you think about this? Would you want your ashes sent into space?