OMG!!! We Lost Scotty Again.

[jayfish]

A privately funded rocket was lost on its way to space Saturday night, bringing a third failure in a row to an Internet multimillionaire's effort to create a market for low-cost space-delivery.

The rocket was also carrying the ashes of 208 people who had paid to have their remains shot into space, including the astronaut Gordon Cooper and the actor James Doohan, who played Montgomery "Scotty" Scott, the wily engineer on the original "Star Trek" television series. The service is called an "Explorers Flight" by the company that arranges them, Celestis, Inc. Last night the company's web page stated, "The Explorers Flight mission appears not to have reached orbit tonight," and the Wikipedia pages of Cooper and Doohan had already been edited early Sunday morning to reflect the news.

What do you say to something like that?

Jay

[phantom power]

1. Some days I think we're living in the Era of Failed Dreams.

Props to Vernor Vinge for that phrase.

[Ezlivin]

2. "The engines can't take much more, Captain!"

I think that James Doohan would have had a wry smile over this.