Comments on: Scotty’s remains found

By: Irishman

Irishman — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 21:56:43 +0000

Christian Burnham said:
> It shouldnâ€™t but it does irk me that so much time and expense is placed on a completely worthless pile of carbon dust.

> Sending Scottyâ€™s ashes into space = waste of money

But it’s not your money, so why does it bother you so much? How is it any different than an intercontinental flight to Europe to go backpacking or ski the Alps, or flying out to Vegas and blowing the money gambling, or buying an old car to rebuild into a hot rod, or any of a million other personal uses for personal money for one’s own emotional satisfaction?

By: Cameron

Cameron — Sun, 20 May 2007 17:58:11 +0000

But an ad from Phil, not an ad from Google, which is what it looks like.

By: Dustin

Dustin — Sun, 20 May 2007 13:56:04 +0000

It *is* an ad.

By: Cameron

Cameron — Sun, 20 May 2007 03:36:33 +0000

Dustin: It’s a way of keeping it available. If you haven’t been to the site in a week, or you just found it, it’s a good way to let you know it’s there. It would look a bit nicer on the border, but then most people would think it was an ad.

By: Christian Burnham

Christian Burnham — Sat, 19 May 2007 23:08:19 +0000

Gary: Keith Richards snorting his father’s ashes = Art.
Sending Scotty’s ashes into space = waste of money

Sending Ken Hamm on a trip to Alpha Centauri = Priceless.

By: Dustin

Dustin — Sat, 19 May 2007 15:18:17 +0000

Er, I respect that you’ve done a 180 on your post about Shannon Malloy, but don’t you think that your continued pitching of the donation fund is a bit like overcompensation? Just put an ad on the side or something.

By: Gary Ansorge

Gary Ansorge — Sat, 19 May 2007 14:32:18 +0000

Ummm, imaginary girlfriend,,,is she inflatable?

Having been a fan of Star Trek for over 40 years, I still refer to myself as a trekkie, just to irritate other FaNatics. Just as I call science fiction SciFi(pronounced Ski Fee). Some times people take themselves WAY too seriously,,,

The ashes in orbit thing is all about symbolism, ie, “this thing or act is representative of something else”,,,
What that “something else” is, is debatable and personal. I hope in our rush to extreme rationalism, we don’t lose the ability to enjoy a good pun. Anyone familiar with poetry understands that metaphor, symbolism and sylogism is an integral part of that art form. Art itself is often about implication. Rationalism is straight ahead logical, while art is somewhat like thinking side ways,,,

The orbiting of Scottys ashes is meant to call attention to an emotional/exciting connection with space travel and the greatness of being an explorer in a new realm. Scotty represents all of that.

Scotty, I will remember you,,,and thanks for the stories.

GAry 7

By: Christian Burnham

Christian Burnham — Sat, 19 May 2007 06:54:44 +0000

Mori- even I know that Trekkers is the term used by fans of Star Trek to describe themselves, whereas Trekkies is the term used by the media much to the annoyance of the fan-base.

Now excuse me, I have to get back to my imaginary girlfriend.

By: Christian Burnham

Christian Burnham — Sat, 19 May 2007 04:45:01 +0000

I wouldn’t care in the slightest if Scotty’s ashes had landed in a puddle of mud or up Keith Richards’ nose.

It shouldn’t but it does irk me that so much time and expense is placed on a completely worthless pile of carbon dust.

By: Grand Lunar

Grand Lunar — Sat, 19 May 2007 01:59:12 +0000

I wonder if they can hold onto the container until the return to the moon. Or at least attach it to the LRO?

By: Mori

Mori — Sat, 19 May 2007 00:05:07 +0000

I thought “Trekkies” was the accepted term?

By: Jeff

Jeff — Fri, 18 May 2007 22:02:33 +0000

The reporting of this story across the various news services has been really inaccurate.

Saying that they found it implies that they lost it in the first place. That isn’t really the case. They just had not managed to retrieve it.

They had transmitters on the payload to lead them in. Weather and rough terrain kept them from performing the retrieval kept them from actually picking it up, but to imply that they lost the payload is a pretty big misrepresentation of the available facts.