Scotty’s (Star Trek) ashes have been hidden in the ISS for 12 years

The actor James doohan, best known for his role as Scotty in the cult series Star Trek, died in 2005 without being able to fulfill his biggest dream, which was to go to space. A few years before his disappearance, Doohan had however expressed the wish to be cremated and that his ashes be transported aboard the International Space Station.

Richard garriott, cult developer of the Ultima saga (the very first RPG), finally fulfilled Scotty’s wish… without NASA being informed. In 2008, Lord British (Garriott’s nickname) flew to the ISS as a space tourist after buying a $ 30 million ticket. What the US space agency does not know is that Garriott is taking the ashes of James Doohan with him. Once in the station, Lord British takes advantage of a moment of occupation of the other crew members to place the ashes as well as three photos of Doohan… under the floor of the Colombus laboratory of the ISS!

Richard Garriott aboard the ISS in 2008, holding up the laminated map containing the ashes of James Doohan

But why the hell did Garriott sell the wick, at the risk of the ashes being unloaded from the ISS? The ex-space tourist simply believes that“Enough time has passed” since these events. As for Scotty’s ashes, they have already traveled in orbit 1.7 billion kilometers around the Earth.

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