No Outer Space For Doohan's Ashes

The launch failure of a Falcon 1 rocket has doomed James Doohan's last wishes to have his ashes sent into space.

As reported by efluxmedia.com, the second attempt to launch the ashes of two hundred people who has paid to have their ashes launched into space has failed after the rocket launched from the Pacific last night broke up several minutes after launch.

This is the third time that a Falcon rocket launch has failed, the last being in March of 2006. It is suspected that this latest failure was caused by a fuel leak. The CEO of SpaceX, Elon Musk posted a message on the company's website regarding the launch failure. "It was obviously a big disappointment not to reach orbit on this flight," began the message, which promised that the company would "never give up," and would "prevail in reaching orbit and demonstrating reliable space transport."

In addition to Doohan's ashes, those of astronaut Gordon Cooper were on board the Falcon 1. Cooper's ashes had been on the first rocket that failed in May of 2007 along with Doohan's, as reported by Engadget. That first rocket, belonging to Space Services, Inc., crashed in New Mexico, but the container holding the ashes had been recovered and so a second attempt could be made, which unfortunately has ended in failure.

To read more, head to the articles located here and here.

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