Beam-up Delayed

Earlier on this blog, I reported that several grams of James Doohan's (Scotty of Star Trek fame) ashes were going to be sent into space by Space Services Inc. in late 2005.

The launch has been delayed.  As reported in Doohan Memorial Spaceflight Delayed, Startrek.com, Nov. 8, 2005:

The countdown for the "Explorers Flight" — containing the ashes of more than 160 participants including Doohan's — cannot commence until another vehicle is successfully launched in late November or early December. Then, the launch field at Vandenberg Air Force Base shuts down from mid-December through the end of January.

Thus, the likely timeframe for the Explorers Flight is February or March of 2006, according to Susan Schonfeld of Space Services, Inc. (SSI), the company providing the memorial flight service.