Beam up to space delayed for Star Trek’s Scotty

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Plans to launch the remains of
“Star Trek” actor James Doohan into space next month have been
delayed pending more rocket engine tests, organizers said on
Wednesday.

Doohan, who played the “Star Trek” engineer Montgomery
“Scotty” Scott on the TV series, died in July at age 85. In
accord with his last wishes, his cremated remains were set to
be launched into space by commercial flight operators Space
Services.

Charles Chafer of Space Services said the flight, due to
blast off from California, was likely to be delayed from
December 6 until at least February because engineers working on
the Falcon One rocket wanted to do some more engine tests.

Doohan’s remains will be packed into a tube that is ejected
from the rocket and expected to orbit Earth for 50 to 200
years.

Chafer said the remains of 200 other people from as far
afield as Russia, Japan and Australia would also be on the
flight.

“They literally come from all walks of life — from rocket
scientists to restaurant owners and truck drivers. They were
mostly people who were interested in space or anyone who just
liked to walk out and look up at the stars at night,” said
Chafer.