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UPHAM — An unmanned rocket that took off in the inaugural launch from New Mexico's spaceport crashed in the desert Monday, failing in its mission to reach sub-orbital space. The 20-foot SpaceLoft XL rocket, among the first to be launched from a commercial U.S. spaceport, was carrying various experiments and other payloads for its planned journey 70 miles above Earth. The rocket took of at 2:14 p.m. and was due back about 13 minutes later at White Sands Missile Range, just north of the launch site. Something went wrong shortly after takeoff, sending the rocket prematurely to the ground. Officials...

The payload container carrying experiments and the cremated ashes of some 200 dearly departed people — a cargo that includes remains of the beloved "Scotty" of "Star Trek" fame — has been recovered in the New Mexico mountains. "It has been found. It is in good shape," Eric Knight, co-founder of the rocket firm, UP Aerospace, that launched the cargo, told SPACE.com Friday. That payload section of UP Aerospace's second SpaceLoft XL rocket landed in rough mountainous terrain in the White Sands Missile Range after blasting off April 28th from New Mexico's Spaceport America. The suborbital rocket shot the payload...

Beaming him up was the easy part - the problem was transporting him back to Earth. A search team continues to look for a rocket carrying ashes of the actor James Doohan, who played Scotty on Star Trek, almost two weeks after it hurtled to the edge of space from New Mexico. Remains of the Canadian-born actor, who died two years ago at the age of 85, blasted off from a remote launch site on April 29 carrying a payload that included the ashes of astronaut Gordon Cooper and several experiments. A spokeswoman for Houston-based Space Services Inc, which organised...

James Doohan's Final Tribute in Space Nearly two years after his death, the man who made "beam me up" a household phrase has finally been beamed up himself. James Doohan, famous for his role as Scotty on "Star Trek," is one of about two hundred people whose ashes blasted off from New Mexico's Spaceport America on Saturday. "This is the best final tribute for someone like James Doohan," said Charles Chafer, owner of Space Services Inc., the company behind the launch. "Really, it was James's wish to join his buddy Gene [Roddenberry] in space."

UPHAM, N.M. - The cremated remains of actor James Doohan, who portrayed engineer "Scotty" on "Star Trek," and of Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper soared into suborbital space Saturday aboard a rocket. It was the first successful launch from Spaceport America, a commercial spaceport being developed in the southern New Mexico desert. Suzan Cooper and Wende Doohan fired the rocket carrying small amounts of their husbands' ashes, and those of about 200 others, at 8:56 a.m. local time. "Go baby, go baby," said Eric Knight of the commercial launch company, UP Aerospace Inc. of Farmington, Conn. Since it was a suborbital...

The rocket, only 20ft long and 10in wide, looked more like a big firework than a giant step for mankind. But, if all goes well tomorrow, its launch will be the first successful mission from the world’s all-commercial spaceport. On board, as part of its 110lb (50kg) payload, will be a few grams of cremated remains from James Doohan, the actor who played Scotty in Star Trek. He had always wanted to experience a real trip into space, and when he died a couple of years ago he left money in his will for this purpose. As the chief engineer...

The ashes of Star Trek’s Scotty and one of NASA’s first astronauts are once more bound for the final frontier, this time aboard a privately-built rocket to launch from New Mexico this month. Portions of the cremated remains of actor James Doohan, the plucky engineer of television's Starship Enterprise, and Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper are set for an April 28 launch aboard a SpaceLoft XL rocket built by the private firm UP Aerospace. The space shot – dubbed SL-2 – will lift off from Spaceport America, a state-funded launch site near Upham, New Mexico and about 45 miles (72 kilometers)...

Doohan Memorial Spaceflight Set for April 27-28 The first rocket launch which will memorialize James Doohan by taking a portion of his cremated remains into space has been set for Saturday, April 28, in New Mexico, with a public memorial planned for the day prior. The memorial service will be held at the New Mexico Museum of Space History in Alamogordo on Friday, April 27. The Saturday launch will take place at New Mexico's new "Spaceport America" location adjacent to the White Sands Missile Range. A specific time of day has not yet been set for either event. Both the...

NEW YORK - Beam me up, indeed! James Doohan, who played chief engineer Montgomery “Scotty” Scott in the original “Star Trek” TV series and several movies, will have a few grams of his ashes blasted 70 miles into space this fall from southern New Mexico. Houston-based Space Services Inc. plans to have the ashes of 100 others aboard the Oct. 21 “memorial spaceflight” — among them, Gordon Cooper, one of the original seven Mercury astronauts.

NEW YORK - The remains of actor James Doohan, who played the starship Enterprise’s chief engineer ”Scotty” on “Star Trek,” will be blasted into space in October, the company organizing the flight said Monday. The actor who inspired the catchphrase “Beam me up, Scotty” — even though it was never actually uttered on the show — died a year ago at the age of 85. On the program, when Capt. James Kirk ventured off the spaceship Enterprise and faced peril, he would demand Scotty “beam” him back up to the safety of the ship.

It cannae take me, captain That's life, Jim ... Doohan as Scotty     By EMILY SMITH US Editor THE ashes of Star Trek’s Scotty will not be boldy going into space next month — after his rocket was grounded with engine problems. A technical glitch hit the Falcon One craft that was intended to take actor James Doohan’s remains to the final frontier on December 6.Now the launch to bid farewell to Canadian actor Doohan — who played engineer Montgomery ‘Scotty’ Scott in the hit TV show — has been delayed until February.Charles Chafer of Space Services Inc said:...

Saturday, 15 October 2005, 08:48 GMT 09:48 UK Space date set for Scotty's ashes Star Trek actor James Doohan, who played Scotty in the series, will have his final wish granted when his ashes are sent into space on 6 December. Doohan died of Alzheimer's disease and pneumonia in July, aged 85. His ashes will be accompanied by thousands of tributes from fans of the sci-fi show. "James spent so much time with fans and many want to come to his space blast," a Space Services Inc spokeswoman said. The firm will fire the ashes into orbit from a California...