- PREVIOUS POST
- « Books Received: August 4, 2008 (+ Book Meme)
- NEXT POST
- SF Tidbits for 8/5/08 »
The latest attempt get the remains of Star Trek actor James Doohan into space have failed once more.
On Saturday, August 2nd, the rocket that carried the remains of 208 people, including Doohan and astronaut Gordon Cooper, was lost on its way to space:
The accident occurred a little more than two minutes after launch, and the two-stage Falcon 1 rocket appeared to be oscillating before the live signal from an on-board video camera went dead.
...
The first Falcon 1 launch, in March 2006, failed about a minute into its ascent because of a fuel line leak. A second rocket, launched in March 2007, made it to space but was lost about five minutes after launching.
Regarding the failure, Boing Boing has posted a letter from Doohan's son, Ehrich Blackhound:
Every launch attempt is like reliving his funeral. There's a lot of pomp and ceremony, and a retelling of his deeds in life. But at the end of these funerals, something goes awry, the body doesn't get buried, and you know you're going to have to come back to do it over again.
Comments (3)
| PermaLink
| Category: Star Trek
Posted by John DeNardo at Monday August 04, 2008 at 12:51 PM
© 2008 SF Signal
I guess you really DO have to be a rocket scientist to get something into outer space.
...
*Clears out his desk and leaves after that joke*
On a related note...have any of you read about James Doohan's life? It's fascinating reading, it's well worth it. The man really LIVED before he starred as Scotty. Had part (or the whole, I can't remember,) of one of his fingers shot off, for one thing. Amazing man.
Posted by Pete Tzinski on Monday August 04, 2008 at 9:04 PM
>>...have any of you read about James Doohan's life?
Not on any significant level. I do remember reading some interview or other that talked about his wartime pilot days. I wanna say it was an old issue of Starlog...but yes, he's led a fascinating life.
Posted by John on Monday August 04, 2008 at 9:37 PM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Doohan
Hell, just read the bit about the military service. Impressive, says me. 
Posted by Pete Tzinski on Tuesday August 05, 2008 at 9:28 AM