Tonight, 119 parties in 32 countries will celebrate "Yuri's Night" — the 46th anniversary of mankind's first escape from Earth's atmosphere.
It seems a timely opportunity to ensure that those of you in or around New Mexico know of the upcoming opportunity to attend James Doohan's send-off. On April 27th, a memorial will be held for the actor who played Scotty on Star Trek: The Original Series, followed the next day by the liftoff of the Legacy Flight module and its payload of Mr. Doohan's ashes into outer space. Mr. Doohan's widow, Wende, has extended an invitation to any and all Star Trek fans to attend these special events.
This launch has been delayed many times since Doohan's passing on July 20th, 2005 — the anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the Moon. Gene Roddenberry, Star Trek's creator, died in 1991 and entered space in 1997. Finally, with Scotty beaming up to where he belongs, they will be in good company.
I was fortunate enough to have met the late James Doohan at a science fiction convention a few years ago. Although he was best known for playing Montgomery Scott on the original Star Trek, he was also a decorated hero of World War II and a gentleman.
Other genre actors (who shall remain nameless for now) have been less than friendly to their fans, but despite obviously failing health, Doohan shook my hand and happily signed autographs and talked with fans. May his remains rejoin the cosmos from which we sprang and someday hope to explore…
StarTrek.com has a video of the launch.
Related:
Walter Schirra, the only astronaut to fly in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs, has died. He was 84 years old.
NASA.gov obituary
StarTrek.com obituary
James Doohan's ashes were lost, along with hundreds of other people's ashes and several satellites, with the failure of the Falcon 1 rocket.