space

Tragedy or Farce?

Posted on

Karl Marx famously said, “History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce” and nothing better could be used to describe how James Doohan’s ashes were destroyed yesterday when a rocket carrying them into space failed to make it into orbit and instead blew up.
If you don’t know the name James Doohan, maybe you know him as Scotty from “Star Trek.” He passed away in 2005 and to have his ashes to make it to the stars, the locale where he made his living, would have been oh so poetic.
The first attempt was made last year and it was unsuccessful – the rocket crashed and it was over two weeks later before they found his remains.
As “they” say, if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. The Doohan family obviously shares this adage as they launched his remains again one year after the failed attempt. This time, they were even less successful because not only did the rocket fail, but the ashes were destroyed.
I’m not sure how one destroys ashes. I guess they are just hopelessly scattered.
Via Neu