# The Word is Given: Warp Speed, Mr. Scott **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 28, 2007, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-is-given-warp-speed-mr-scott/401968 "2007-04-28T18:24:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-is-given-warp-speed-mr-scott/401968/1 "2007-04-28T18:24:32Z")
[James Doohan boldly goes. . .](http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070428/ts_alt_afp/entertainmentusfilmdoohanoffbeat_070428150744) > [@](#): > > However on Saturday a symbolic portion of his ashes will be on board a SpaceLoft XL rocket that is scheduled to take off from a private launchpad near this town in the southwestern state of New Mexico. > > The launch has been scheduled for between 8:30 am (1430 GMT) and 2:30 pm local time (2030 GMT). > > Doohan’s ashes will be accompanied by the remains of former US astronaut Gordon Cooper and those of 200 other people. > > Doohan’s widow Wende said Friday her husband would have been thrilled at the prospect of a “space funeral” following a poignant service at the New Mexico Museum of Space History. > > “He would be ecstatic,” she said. “He would be the one pressing the button. He totally was so into space.” Bless you, Jimmy. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-is-given-warp-speed-mr-scott/401968/2 "2007-04-28T18:32:40Z")
CNN says all went well. [Upaerospace](http://www.upaerospace.com/) doesn’t have the video up yet, but the September 2006 launch is still there. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-is-given-warp-speed-mr-scott/401968/3 "2007-04-28T22:17:17Z")
What these stories fail to mention is that only a tiny amount any individual’s ashes are sent into space — about a quarter ounce, in a vial. That’s how they are able to get the “remains” of 200 people on board at one time. If Doohan weighed 200 pounds at death, he would yield about 6 pounds of cremated remains. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-is-given-warp-speed-mr-scott/401968/4 "2007-04-28T22:30:49Z")
It’s better than nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-is-given-warp-speed-mr-scott/401968/5 "2007-04-28T22:34:26Z")
Bon Voyage, Scotty. (200 lbs: 6 pounds of cremated remains. 33 1/3 : 1. Sorry, just tucking that bit of trivia away.) ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-is-given-warp-speed-mr-scott/401968/6 "2007-04-28T22:35:06Z")
We are star dust. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-is-given-warp-speed-mr-scott/401968/7 "2007-04-28T22:36:27Z")
But are we golden? ---
**Author:** ![Full\_Metal\_Lotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df705f/32.png) [@Full\_Metal\_Lotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Full_Metal_Lotus)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2007, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-is-given-warp-speed-mr-scott/401968/8 "2007-04-29T02:16:59Z")
Semi related, semi hijack… a few yrs ago, a relative asked for a late day funeral, to be followed by a night time reception and fireworks show. She wanted people to have a good time, and leave with a smile. That got me to thinking, how cool it would be to have fireworks made using creamated ashes as part of the colourants in the firework mix (I realize that the colours would be dull yellows and such). Other fioreworks could be deployed fopr colour, or mixed in to enhance the duller carbonate / calcium compounds in the “show” I also got to thinking that a container of ashes, if launched correctly could make for a specatular meteor show… thoughts? (By the way, All respects to J Doohan… may he go boldly forever… regards FML ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2007, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-is-given-warp-speed-mr-scott/401968/9 "2007-04-29T02:46:29Z")
Hunter S. Thompson had his ashes fired from a cannon. Did a previous effort put ashes into a temporary orbit from which they burned on re-entry? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2007, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-is-given-warp-speed-mr-scott/401968/10 "2007-04-29T04:25:28Z")
Godspeed, Mr. Scott. Ye shall be missed. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2007, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-is-given-warp-speed-mr-scott/401968/11 "2007-04-29T04:37:49Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] Godspeed, Mr. Scott. Ye shall be missed. [/QUOTE] Many of us have been missing the man for two years. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2007, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-is-given-warp-speed-mr-scott/401968/12 "2007-04-29T09:08:08Z")
[QUOTE=carnivorousplant] Hunter S. Thompson had his ashes fired from a cannon. Did a previous effort put ashes into a temporary orbit from which they burned on re-entry? [/QUOTE] Yup. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2007, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-is-given-warp-speed-mr-scott/401968/13 "2007-04-29T10:24:54Z")
“Ama-a-aaziing grace, how sweet the sound…” ---
**Author:** ![Merkwurdigliebe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@Merkwurdigliebe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merkwurdigliebe)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2007, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-is-given-warp-speed-mr-scott/401968/14 "2007-04-29T18:39:41Z")
This is cool and all, but I’ve always felt that they should have put him on an interstellar probe. How cool would that be? Of course there is a chance (or a certainty?) that he’d eventually get pulled into some kind of star or other planet. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2007, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-is-given-warp-speed-mr-scott/401968/15 "2007-04-29T20:09:41Z")
> [@](#): > > Of course there is a chance (or a certainty?) that he’d eventually get pulled into some kind of star or other planet. A chance so miniscule as to be completely negligible, unless the probe is actively aiming for a star. It’s basically the same problem as Olber’s Paradox: Most of the sky is not filled by the surface of a star. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2007, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-is-given-warp-speed-mr-scott/401968/16 "2007-04-29T21:22:18Z")
[QUOTE=Full Metal Lotus] Semi related, semi hijack… a few yrs ago, a relative asked for a late day funeral, to be followed by a night time reception and fireworks show. She wanted people to have a good time, and leave with a smile. That got me to thinking, how cool it would be to have fireworks made using creamated ashes as part of the colourants in the firework mix (I realize that the colours would be dull yellows and such). Other fioreworks could be deployed fopr colour, or mixed in to enhance the duller carbonate / calcium compounds in the “show” I also got to thinking that a container of ashes, if launched correctly could make for a specatular meteor show… thoughts? (By the way, All respects to J Doohan… may he go boldly forever.. regards FML [/QUOTE] Lots of companies do this already. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2007, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-is-given-warp-speed-mr-scott/401968/17 "2007-04-30T03:46:10Z")
[QUOTE=carnivorousplant] Many of us have been missing the man for two years. [/QUOTE] Yeah, I know. But it bears repeating. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2007, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-is-given-warp-speed-mr-scott/401968/18 "2007-05-12T04:02:30Z")
[Geordi must have been at the controls, or something.](http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20070510/sc_space/crematedremainsof200lostinmountainsaftertriptospace) > [@](#): > > The search for the UP Aerospace payload of experiments and the cremated remains of some 200 people - including “Scotty” of Star Trek fame, as well as pioneeering NASA Mercury astronaut, Gordon Cooper - continues within rugged New Mexico mountain landscape. > [@](#): > > While all went well with the flight, the rocket components parachuted into rough and tumble terrain. Repeated searches within the landing zone have come up empty. How can you _lose_ the greatest engineer in the history of science fiction? That’s like letting DeForest Kelley die from a papercut! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2007, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-is-given-warp-speed-mr-scott/401968/19 "2007-05-12T05:38:19Z")
Most of James Doohan’s ashes were scattered over Puget Sound in Washington State. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2007, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-is-given-warp-speed-mr-scott/401968/20 "2007-05-12T06:28:11Z")
OK, so the ashes were intended to go on a sub-orbital trajectory? I was under the impression they were going into orbit. Although the original article didn’t mention it, so I guess that’s a wrong assumption on my part. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-is-given-warp-speed-mr-scott/401968.md?page=2)