The
payload container carrying experiments and the cremated ashes of some 200
dearly departed people a cargo that includes remains of the beloved "Scotty"
of "Star Trek" fame has been recovered in the New Mexico mountains.
"It
has been found. It is in good shape," Eric Knight, co-founder of the rocket
firm UP Aerospace that launched the cargo, told SPACE.com Friday.
That
payload section UP Aerospace's second SpaceLoft XL rocket landed in hard to
search mountains within the White Sands Missile Range after blasting
off April 28th from New Mexico's Spaceport America. The suborbital rocket
shot the payload section up into space, with the booster stage and the top
section individually parachuting back down to terra firma.
Tucked
aboard the rocket were a series of experiments and the ashes of 200 people,
including actor James Doohan who portrayed the plucky Starship Enterprise
engineer Scotty on television's "Star Trek" as well as the remains of Gordon
Cooper, one of NASA's seven original Mercury astronauts.
Repeated
searches of a projected landing zone came up empty handed
since the rocket was launched. But today proved successful, with bad weather as
well as rough and tumble terrain making searches by helicopter tough duty.
In
an earlier search, the rocket booster itself was found and recovered.
On
the scene as part of the recovery team, Jerry Larson, President of UP
Aerospace, reportedly found the missing in the mountain payload in good shape.
More details regarding the finding of the rocket section are expected later
today, Knight said.
Array of payloads
The
April flight of the SpaceLoft XL labeled SL-2 took
into space an array of educational investigations, as well as commercial
and entrepreneurial payloads.
For
instance, 800 students from teams around the country and the world, including
Alaska, Puerto Rico, and the Netherlands, developed and designed 44 scientific
experiments for the SL-2 mission.
The
SpaceLoft XL mission also marked the first Legacy Flight a new service
provided by Celestis Incorporated of Houston, Texas. That firm launches the
cremated remains of individuals into space.
UP
Aerospace is gearing up for future launches from Spaceport America, a site
dubbed as the world's first "purpose-built" or built from scratch
commercial spaceport being erected 30 miles (48 kilometers) east of Truth or
Consequences and 45 miles (72 kilometers) north of Las Cruces, New Mexico.
This
was the second rocket liftoff for UP Aerospace from Spaceport
America.
Last
September, the firm's SpaceLoft XL ran into trouble during ascent then fell
to Earth after 90 seconds of flight. Corrective actions were taken by UP
Aerospace leading to the successful takeoff and full mission last month.
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