"Scotty" & Gordon Cooper Ashes Going to Space Sat. on Falcon 9

The Secret Celebrities to be Launched on SpaceX Falcon Rocket

James Doohan, right, played Montgomery "Scotty" Scott on "Star Trek." William Shatner was Capt. Kirk. (CBS via Getty Images)

By GINA SUNSERI

JOHNSON SPACE CENTER, Houston, May 18, 2012

When SpaceX launches its Falcon 9 rocket it will secretly be carrying celebrities. Actor James Doohan, who played Scotty on the original "Star Trek" series, died in 2005. His ashes will be on board this mission -- as will those of Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper and 306 other people. If you have the money, Celestis, a space services company, will send your loved one's ashes up to orbit Earth. l
Sound familiar? This is the second time around for Celestis and Space X; the companies tried to launch Doohan and Cooper and 206 others back in August 2008. When SpaceX launched the remains on its Falcon1 rocket, the rocket never made it to space. When the rocket failed to get to orbit, neither did the cremated remains, or, for that matter, some small satellites sent by NASA and the Department of Defense.

MORE: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/spacex-launch-falcon-rocket-carries-cremated-ashes-james/story?id=16373201#.T7aZ-Pmitk0

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