James Doohan

Canadian actor James Doohan originated the role of Montgomery "Scotty" Scott, Chief Engineer of the USS Enterprise, in the classic TV series Star Trek. Doohan also played the role in the Star Trek Films and in a guest appearance on Star Trek: The Next Generation.StarTrek.com: Celebrating the Legendary James Doohan

Before Doohan's death, he had asked that his remains be launched into space. In April, 2007, Doohan's ashes were launched into space along with the ashes of 200 other people. The rocket was only in space for a short period of time, and then returned to earth. The ashes were lost for three weeks while crews searched for the rocket, but were eventually found.BBC News: Scotty's space-flight ashes found (May 18, 2007) Doohan's ashes were lost permanently after a second attempt at sending Doohan's ashes into space failed. On August 3, 2008 the launch of the rocket Falcon 1 failed to reach orbit.Ars Technica: Space X loses "Scotty" (and a rocket) (August 3, 2008)

• Note: The majority of the links in this timeline are to IMDb, which has pop-ups.

• March 3, 1920: Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

• 1944: Serves on D-Day with Canadian Infantry

• 1966: Cast as Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott on Star Trek

• 1973: Voices Scotty character on Star Trek: The Animated Series

• December 7, 1979: Debut of Star Trek: The Motion Picture in theaters

• July 20, 2005: Dies of pneumonia and Alzheimer's Disease

• April 28, 2007: Ashes launched into orbit and returned to earth on a SpaceLoft XL rocket

• August 3, 2008: Ashes lost on second launch attempt by Falcon 1 rocket