Related news
Star Trek it has been a milestone in the history of science fiction. It has been a mythical and successful work practically all over the world, even in territories like Spain where the genre had not been established. In part it was thanks to its actors, and some of them now deceased have been honored in ways, to say the least, peculiar. Especially Scotty, the character played by James Montgomery Doohan.
The actor, who died in 2005 at the age of 85, has received one of the greatest posthumous honors: his ashes were transferred to the very International Space Station or ISS. A story in itself surprising that also goes further, since all this it was done in secret.
This is how the magazine reveals it Times, which tells the bizarre story of how the ashes of a Star Trek actor have been hidden more than 10 years in a space facility thousands of miles in space.
Smuggled ashes
–
It all starts with Montgomery himself. The actor who played the beloved character Scotty on Star Trek always made it clear that his greatest wish in life was to reach for the stars. Given the role the artist played in the series, it was inevitable that his death would be honored with reference to space. His son made it possible.
One of Scotty’s sons contacted Richard Garriot, American businessman and video game developer. He was preparing to travel to the Station on a private flight by the hand of Space Adventures. In fact, the trip was days away. The opportunity was perfect; Garriot had the opportunity to introduce Doohan’s ashes into the Station.
Of course, no one can bring any object to the ISS without its operators and staff noticing. The plan was especially thorough. Doohan’s son sent his father’s ashes to Garriot, who was in Kazakhstan undergoing pre-flight quarantine.
Garriot’s plan was ingenious. Hid the ashes in printed photographs of Doohan himself; Garriot sealed the ashes on the cards with Doohan’s photos, keeping them in the flight data file. One of the photographs was hidden underneath of the lining of the ISS itself, becoming part of the Station.
The other two photographs had a different destination. One of them he launched into outer space, and the last one remained in the hands of Scotty’s family after they had traveled to the ISS. Finally, Garriot recorded a video at the Station showing how Doohan’s ashes had finally traveled into space.
More than 10 years
International Space Station.
–
–
The most surprising thing in history is that all this it was done in secret. It was not until 12 years later that Garriot has considered that enough time has passed to reveal this event. The businessman himself explains that they have not done it before for fear of possible reprisals. After all, the ashes were smuggled.
In addition, he assures that, as far as he knows, the card with Doohan’s ashes that remained on the ISS still there, and nobody has moved the object from its place. In fact, no one has even seen it, and more than a decade later it is still hidden under the lining of the Station.
– .
