I was amused recently by the story of James Doohan's ashes being blasted into space and then lost upon re-entry to Earth (link). It seemed ironic given that the character he played in Star Trek (Scotty) travelled across the known universe and back several times and yet in real life he couldn't make it past low Earth orbit. It seems, however, that it was intented to return to Earth with a bang (although losing the ashes was not part of the mission).
What I found difficult to imagine was why he (or his family) decided that this low level voyage was appropriate. I had discussions with my wife about this where I was arguing that it can't be too difficult to go a bit further and leave the Earth orbit entirely, whereas my wife argued that it must be more difficult and hence more expensive and that was the reason they don't do it. After numerous discussions involving Escape Velocities and Return On Investment we agreed to differ. It seems, though (link), that we were both right. The aeronautical company that runs the space-ashes-blasting services offers different grades of ashes-blasting including the one that Mr Doohan opted for (Earth Rise Service), but also a Voyager Service which includes sending ashes out of Earth-Moon system gravity and into "deep space" (which probably means smashing into Jupiter). The difference in price is great, but you still have to wonder why $12,500 was considered not worth it and an ignoble return to Earth was acceptible.
Let's hope Messrs Nimoy and Shatner's ambitions for space travel are more worthy of their on-screen personae...
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