# James Doohan's ashes supposed to go to outer space, ended up in New Mexico **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 7, 2008, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-doohans-ashes-supposed-to-go-to-outer-space-ended-up-in-new-mexico/459149 "2008-08-07T12:08:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-doohans-ashes-supposed-to-go-to-outer-space-ended-up-in-new-mexico/459149/1 "2008-08-07T12:08:29Z")
[Captain, we need more power](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6671887.stm) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-doohans-ashes-supposed-to-go-to-outer-space-ended-up-in-new-mexico/459149/2 "2008-08-07T12:48:45Z")
Something that was supposed to stay in space ended up in New Mexico? Maybe this explains Roswell. … ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-doohans-ashes-supposed-to-go-to-outer-space-ended-up-in-new-mexico/459149/3 "2008-08-07T13:21:35Z")
They did go to outer space; they were never supposed to stay there. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-doohans-ashes-supposed-to-go-to-outer-space-ended-up-in-new-mexico/459149/4 "2008-08-07T15:58:13Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] Something that was supposed to stay in space ended up in New Mexico? Maybe this explains Roswell. [/QUOTE] That was an incredibly uninformative article. Oh, wait, that was from a year ago. Try [this](http://spaceflightnow.com/falcon/003/) to see what Mr. Doohan is up to now. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-doohans-ashes-supposed-to-go-to-outer-space-ended-up-in-new-mexico/459149/5 "2008-08-07T16:08:25Z")
They were never intended to stay in space. April, 2007. > **[BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Star Trek's Scotty heads to space](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6519525.stm)** > > The ashes of James Doohan, who played Scotty in Star Trek, are put in a rocket which will send them into space. > [@](#): > > The capsules containing the ashes will be retrieved upon their return to Earth and given to each person’s relatives. The glitch is that they couldn’t immediately locate the capsule once it came down. It was in the approximate location, but it’s pretty rugged out there, and it took them three weeks to find it. Also, the linked BBC story in the OP is from May 2007; why are we discussing this now? His ashes were “found” over a year ago. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-doohans-ashes-supposed-to-go-to-outer-space-ended-up-in-new-mexico/459149/6 "2008-08-07T16:33:14Z")
[QUOTE=Duck Duck Goose] Also, the linked BBC story in the OP is from May 2007; why are we discussing this now? His ashes were “found” over a year ago. [/QUOTE] They actually tried to relaunch his recovered ashes recently (like earlier this week), but the rocket once again failed. I presume the OP meant to link to the more recent event and got confused. I believe the rocket actually blew up this time around, so I doubt his ashes will be recovered for a third trip. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-doohans-ashes-supposed-to-go-to-outer-space-ended-up-in-new-mexico/459149/7 "2008-08-07T23:03:50Z")
So his ashes were blown to…what, smithereens or something? ---
**Author:** ![phil417](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6bbea6/32.png) [@phil417](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phil417)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-doohans-ashes-supposed-to-go-to-outer-space-ended-up-in-new-mexico/459149/8 "2008-08-07T23:47:26Z")
So does whoever paid for it get their money back? Love, Phil ---
**Author:** ![ASAKMOTSD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@ASAKMOTSD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASAKMOTSD)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2008, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-doohans-ashes-supposed-to-go-to-outer-space-ended-up-in-new-mexico/459149/9 "2008-08-08T00:21:12Z")
[QUOTE=phil417] So does whoever paid for it get their money back? [/QUOTE] Ye kinna have it! The engines are - I mean the money is just gone!