The final wishes of former Star Trek actor James Doohan were honoured on Tuesday (22May12) when his ashes were released into outer space.
The actor, who died in July, 2005, left specific instructions in his will to distribute his remains beyond Earth’s atmosphere.
And, on Tuesday, a small urn containing a portion of Doohan’s ashes was successfully sent into orbit via SpaceX’s unmanned Falcon 9 rocket, which took off from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
I always wanted to be an astronaut. I found Science Fiction at an early age (I think I was eight when I read my first John W Campbell story, leading to a lifetime of good and bad reading choices).
And now that I am too old to go into space, I could pay for it.
Damn. Someone up there hates me.
From 20 degrees above the ring plane, Cassini’s wide angle camera shot 75 exposures in succession for this mosaic showing Saturn, its rings, and a few of its moons a day and a half after exact Saturn equinox, when the sun’s disk was exactly overhead at the planet’s equator. The images were taken on Aug. 12, 2009, at a distance of approximately 847,000 km (526,000 mi) from Saturn. (NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute) #
Woot! And British, too. You rocks, guys. <whaddya mean, they ain’t real…!>
We all need space…
We should be doing more of this. We need this.
NASA has developed a water recovery device for its space stations that will recycle urine into potable drinking water.
Due to a recent breakthrough in the distillation process, astronauts will soon be able to drink water that comes from their own taps. NASA claims this new technology will transform ordinary pee into water of the highest purity, saving them over $600,000 a year.
Shipping a pint of fresh water into space costs $15,000, so astronauts have always reused as much water as possible. In the past this has meant purifying the H20 from showering and shaving, and even the perspiration that accumulates inside space suits.
In honor of this development, we’re petitioning Gatorade to change the name of Lemon Ice to “Xtremo Astronaut.”(source)
(via kevinkeene)
babylon 5 is still my favourite, watch over and over, science fiction television. Oh, and a few filims… (via spacenoir)
