Star Trek's Scotty rests in space at last

It may not sound as cool as being beamed up to space, but being sent into space aboard the first private space launch is just as historic for the late "Star Trek" actor James Doohan.

 

The ashes of Doohan, who played chief engineer Montgomery Scott on the popular 1960s sci-fi series, were aboard the spacecraft sent by US firm SpaceX to the International Space Station.

 

"His remains, along with Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper and more than 300 other hardcore space fans, are to be dispatched into the final frontier," UK's Sky News reported.

 

No humans are aboard on the Dragon capsule launched by SpaceX, but six astronauts are already at the space lab to help the capsule latch on.

 

The astronauts are also to unload supplies and restock the capsule with cargo to take back to Earth.

 

Sky News said the remains are placed in a container with lipstick-tube-sized canisters.

 

Barring any unforeseen incident, the container should circle Earth as an orbital space memorial for about a year, then pulled back into the atmosphere and incinerated.

 

The Sky News report said the test flight, which may include a fly-by and berthing with the ISS, aims to show the private sector can help the US access the ISS after the National Aeronautics and Space Administration retired its space shuttle fleet last year.

 

SpaceX, based in California and owned by billionaire Internet entrepreneur Elon Musk, is one of the first US firms to try sending spacecraft to the ISS.

 

Its goal is to restore US access to space for human travelers by 2015.

 

So far, only the space agencies of Russia, Japan and Europe have been able to send supply ships to the ISS.

 

Last Saturday, the SpaceX mission was delayed due to a faulty engine valve in the rocket's main engine. It has since been repaired. — TJD, GMA News