Beam Me Up

[Guest guest]

I thought this had already happened:

 

PHOENIX (Reuters) - The remains of actor James Doohan, who played the

starship Enterprise's chief engineer Scotty on " Star Trek, " will be

blasted into space next month, the company organising the flight said

on Friday.

 

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The Canadian-born actor who inspired the catchphrase " Beam me up,

Scotty " -- even though it was never actually uttered on the

television show -- died two years ago at the age of 85.

 

Houston-based commercial company Space Services Inc. said some of

Doohan's remains were packed into a rocket at Las Cruces, New Mexico,

on Friday, ahead of the flight scheduled for April 28.

 

The company had originally planned to blast Doohan's remains into

space two years ago. But the flight was delayed by tests, then by a

misfire during a practice launch last year.

 

Space Services spokeswoman Susan Schonfeld said Doohan's ashes will

be sent up along with the remains of some 200 other people, including

astronaut Gordon Cooper, who first went into space in 1963. Cooper

died in 2004 at age 77.

 

After a short flight the rocket will return to Earth with the

capsules holding the remains.

 

Space Services is a commercial venture that charges $495 to send a

sample of a person's ashes into suborbital space. Capsules containing

the ashes are retrieved, mounted on plaques and given back to

relatives.

 

In 1997 the company blasted the remains of " Star Trek " creator Gene

Roddenberry into space.