By Lesley O'Toole Dennis Quaid rocketed to fame playing an astronaut, but fell back to earth with a bump.

By DR STEWART On April 28, 2007, Leroy Gordon Cooper Jr., completed his last mission. On that date, some of his ashes were blasted into space along with those of "Star Trek" actor James Doohan (Scottie) and 200 other people.

A rocket payload that flew briefly into space with ashes of astronaut Gordon Cooper and "Star Trek" actor James Doohan was recovered Friday in the New Mexico mountains.

By Richard Goldstein THE NEW YORK TIMES Wally Schirra, one of the original Mercury Seven astronauts and the only astronaut to fly in all three of NASA's earliest manned space programs -- Mercury, Gemini and Apollo -- died Thursday in La Jolla. He was 84 and lived in Rancho Santa Fe.

By ANDREW WEBB Journal Staff Writer ALAMOGORDO -- Crystal Warren's brother, Al Turner, was such a fan of space travel that he built a mock spaceship cockpit in the family's Missouri basement. Today, he's set to be launched into space with more than 200 other paying passengers.