As we announced in April 2007, the families of actor James Doohan (“Scotty” on Star Trek) and astronaut L. Gordon Cooper, Jr. (Mercury 9, Gemini 5) planned to have some of their ashes launched into space via Celestis, Inc.. The most recent attempt was on 2 August, but unfortunately, the rocket upon which they (and the remains of 206 others) were launched failed two minutes and twenty seconds into the flight. The Celestis module, along with three small satellites—one for the Department of Defense, two for NASA (including an experimental solar sail)—were aboard SpaceX‘s Falcon 1, which lifted off from the Kwajalein Atoll in the Central Pacific Ocean. The failure was the third in a row for the private company funded by PayPal founder Elon Musk. The first launch failed about a minute into the flight, due to a leaky fuel line; the second failed after five minutes, when the second stage lost control. Scientific American has more here.
Following the aborted launch, Doohan’s son Ehrich Blackhound, published this letter of regret and remembrance on BoingBoing.
The New York Times contacted Celestis spokeswoman Susan Schonfeld, who reminded everyone that “the rocket business is very difficult,” but that Celestis retains full confidence in SpaceX: “We’re looking forward to many successful launches with SpaceX.” She also promised they’d make good on their commitments: “We are reflying everybody.” If the remains aboard this rocket are not recoverable, Celestis has backup suppllies. “We always tell our families that we would like more, in case there is a problem.” Schonfeld also quoted Doohan’s widow, Wende, who said “If you think about it, Susan, in the old Star Trek episodes, there was always a problem. So you go and fix the problem, and the next time you’re successful.”