Star Trek: James Doohan’s ashes are said to have been smuggled to the International Space Station

Image Credit: The Times

“Her family were very happy that the ashes had accumulated there, but we were all disappointed that we hadn’t been able to talk about it publicly for so long. Now enough time has passed for us to do this, ”he told The Times.

Doohan died in 2005 at the age of 85. The World War II veteran starred in the original Star Trek series from 1966 to 1969 and subsequent films and sported his Scottish accent albeit Canadian.

One of the most well-known phrases associated with him – “Beam me up, Scotty” – is one of the most iconic popular culture lyrics from Star Trek and beyond, and was even the name of the autobiography. of Doohan despite no one on the show actually saying the exact quote.

In 2007, some of Doohan’s ashes were transported to the edge of space on a suborbital rocket before falling and being lost for three weeks in a mountain range. In 2008, before the mission was successful, a sample intended to enter Earth orbit was destroyed when the rocket failed.

Chris, Doohan’s son, did not give up and contacted Garriott a few days before his $ 30 million trip to the ISS and asked him to respond to his father’s “request to be buried among the stars.” “.

“I said, ‘I’m in quarantine in Kazakhstan. . . but if you can bring the ashes back to me, I’ll find a way to get them on board. A few days before the flight, this package arrived and I made a plan, ”Garriott said.

Garriott printed three cards with a photograph of Doohan, laminated them with some of his ashes, and hid one in his flight data file. The file had clearance to fly, but the ashes apparently had none.

“Everything that is officially loaded is registered, inspected and bagged – there is a process, but there has not been time to put it through,” Garriott said. “The concern afterwards was that it might disrupt relationships because I didn’t have permission. . . so, very cautiously, I was asked to say to the family, “Let’s not do much publicly.” “

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Chris Doohan, who reprized the role of Scotty in 2013 for the Star Trek Continues web series, shared his gratitude for what Garriott has done for his father and their family.

“Richard said ‘We have to keep this quiet for a little while’ and here we are 12 years later. What he did was touching – it meant so much to me, so much to my family and it would have meant so much to my father, ”Doohan said. “My father had three passions: space, science and trains. He always wanted to go to space.

“As far as I know, no one has ever seen it there and no one has moved it,” Garriott concluded. “James Doohan had his place of rest among the stars.

Image Credit: Frank Micelotta / Getty Images.

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Adam Bankhurst is a news editor for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Tic.