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'Scotty' Primed for Space Launch
April 2 2007





An UP Aerospace SpaceLoft XL rocket, like that pictured on its launch rail here, will loft the Legacy of Flight mission for the Houston-based firm Celestis on April 28, 2007. Credit: Space Services, Inc.






A module containing the cremated remains of Star Trek actor James Doohan, seen here with a message from his widow Wende, to launch into space on the Legacy of Flight mission by Houston-based Celestis. Credit: Space Services, Inc.






The space shot – dubbed SL-2 – will lift off from Spaceport America, a state-funded launch site near Upham, New Mexico and about 45 miles (72 kilometers) north of the city of Las Cruces. The ashes of Star Trek’s Scotty and one of NASA’s first astronauts are once more bound for the final frontier, this time aboard a privately-built rocket to launch from New Mexico this month.

Portions of the cremated remains of actor James Doohan, the plucky engineer of television's Starship Enterprise, and Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper are set for an April 28 launch aboard a SpaceLoft XL rocket built by the private firm UP Aerospace.

The remains of Doohan, Cooper and more than 200 people from over 10 different countries will ride the UP Aerospace rocket as part of the Legacy of Flight memorial, a spaceflight arranged for the Houston-based firm Celestis, Inc. A public memorial honoring those whose remains will launch spaceward is set for April 27 at the New Mexico Space History Museum in Alamagordo.

Space remains the domain of the few, the dream of the many, the dream of spaceflight and the desire to take part in the opening of the space frontier can be realized – and is available to everyone.â€

UP Aerospace: Go for New Mexico Liftoff
Posted on April 27, 2007 @ 08:49:31 EDT
Author Leonard David


The private rocket company, UP Aerospace, is on track to launch their suborbital booster April 28th from New Mexico’s Spaceport America property.

The SpaceLoft XL is loaded with experiments, including the cremated remains of Star Trek’s “Scotty” - actor James Doohan. Also onboard are the ashes of Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper - as well as the cremated remains of more than 200 other people from all walks of life.

The SpaceLoft XL is built to carry scientific, educational, and entrepreneurial payloads up to 140 miles (225 kilometers) above Earth. UP Aerospace is mounting its launch campaign from New Mexico’s Spaceport America north of Las Cruces.


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I wonder if the rocket will exit orbit and keep going into outer space …. or take an orbital track. If it goes into orbit it will likely fall out of the sky in 50 years or so ( which is also not a bad way to go down in flames) but I’d rather it land on mars or just keep going. Warp speed Scotty!

Anyway that’s exactly the way I’d like to be taken care of when the time comes. I’d also like to include a lock of hair in my module for cloning purposes. In fact , I recently saved some for just that occasion =) Better save your hair now if you haven’t already , because the DNA in your hair replicates the person you are today.

That’s A Bust. Better luck next time =/









Cremated Remains of 200 Lost in Mountains After Trip to Space
By Leonard David
Special Correspondent, SPACE.com
posted: 10 May 2007
10:53 am ET


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.

After a successful blastoff from New Mexico's Spaceport America on April 28th, the UP Aerospace SpaceLoft XL rocket and its payload nosed into space on a suborbital trajectory. As part of launch operations, the rocket was tracked by specialists at the neighboring White Sands Missile Range. 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.

Jerry Larson, President of UP Aerospace, has told me that the general location of the rocket hardware is known within some 1,300 feet (400 meters) or so. But given the dense vegetation on the side of the mountain being searched, along with equipment available to the search team, pinpointing the exact locale has proven a tough assignment. Yet another trip up on the mountain is slated next week, Larson said. Joining the search this time is the manufacturer of the transmitters onboard the rocket gear. He'll be bringing high-end tracking gear and years of expertise in locating objects in mountain terrain environments.