





When actor James Doohan died in 2005, the man who played Star Trek's engineer Scotty for nearly 40 years had one request: That his ashes be launched into space. Now, after years of delays and countless rumors, SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is not only carrying the Dragon spacecraft; according to Billionaire SpaceX Founder and CEO Elon Musk, it has the ashes of "Scotty" packed somewhere inside the rocket.

The unmanned Dragon spacecraft, which is scheduled to dock with the International Space Station (ISS) sometime within the next few days, rocketed into space at 3:31 AM on Tuesday after technical malfunctions delayed the launch twice. On Saturday, it was scuttled at, literally, the very last second. The pre-dawn launch, though, went off without a hitch this time.

SpaceX's Dragon mission markes the first time a private company has sent a space vehicle to the ISS, but it will not be the last. The spacecraft is carrying station supplies this time, but future flights will be manned. Musk said this morning that the spacecraft can comfortably seat seven astronauts.

Musk, though, had been cagey about the almost mythical Star Trek-inspired cargo. However, when Mashable asked if "Scotty's" remains were on board, Musk quickly replied, "We are carrying the ashes of several people and I am told Scotty is in there." Musk did not offer any details about the identities of the other remains.

Way to go, Scotty, way to go.

You can relive the launch in the NASA video below.





