Merit-bound Alley

Some of you may be aware of SpaceX, a private company trying to get into space. They recently had a failed mission when their Falcon 1 rocket failed to make orbit due to an issue wth compatibility with their Merlin 1C engine.

These things happen, as anyone who has followed (or read about in restorspect) the early missions of NASA. However, it deeply saddens me that part of the payload on this mission was the ashes of James Doohan, Scotty of Star Trek fame. I know, as a Secular Humanist, it doesn’t really matter what happens to my remains when my time finally comes, but there was a rightness of Mr. Doohan’s ashes being scattered in space, even though I’ve never been the biggest fan of Star Trek.

Hopefully, the Atlantic will serve as a proper resting place to a man who has tantalized the imaginations of generations.