Today, on the 87th anniversary of James Montgomery Doohan's birth, we celebrate the life and legacy of a man who was so loved and admired by so many that his death in July 2005 resonated around the world, and continues to do so still ... even to the extent of being recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences last Sunday during the Oscar ceremony.

Much has been written about the legendary TV star, war hero, family man and all-around great guy — not only from his obituaries but from coverage of his Farewell Convention and Hollywood Star Ceremony — that it may seem that everything's been said. But the fact is, his story is not yet complete. For even in death, Jimmy Doohan still draws the interest and accolades of the fans and the press.

If you've been watching this site over the last year and a half, you know that in keeping with Doohan's wishes, his family is planning to include part of his cremated remains on not one, but two "Memorial Spaceflights" that will take those ashes into the final frontier — similar to how Gene Roddenberry was memorialized in 1997 (six years after his passing). But if you've been watching this site, you also know that these plans have been delayed again and again due to technical issues with the rocket vehicles, which the launch providers have been working to address.

Now, Space Services Inc., aka Celestis — the firm providing the memorial spaceflight service — is nearing confirmation of a new launch date for the first of the two flights that Doohan is part of, which will take place out of New Mexico. That date will likely be in late April, and a public memorial service for Doohan will also be scheduled. Celestis expects to make an announcement within the next two weeks. Watch this site in the days ahead for that announcement!

The New Mexico launch is called "The Legacy Flight," and it will take place at Spaceport America near Las Cruces. This will be an "Earth-Return" mission, meaning that the payload — the modules of cremated remains — will be lifted to a zero-gravity altitude, then it will parachute back down to the ground, having symbolically attained astronaut status for the 179 participants. Then the modules will be recovered and returned to the families, mounted on a commemorative plaque.

Part of the Legacy Flight payload will be a disc containing thousands of digitized messages of tribute to Doohan (as well as astronaut Gordon Cooper). About 10,000 messages for Doohan alone have been collected since the forum opened in September 2005. If you have not yet submitted your tribute, click on this link to do so before March 15. That's the date Celestis must close out the messages in order to integrate them into the payload.

The second memorial launch is called "The Explorers Flight," and that mission will put Doohan's remains into orbit semi-permanently (eventually the payload will lose its altitude and burn up in the atmosphere). Celestis is currently projecting that flight to launch sometime this year. The location will probably either be Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, or a launch pad in the Marshall Islands.

In addition to the spaceflight tributes, we invite you to celebrate Jimmy's birthday with us by also posting messages of tribute and remembrance on the Star Trek Message Boards. Feel free to share stories of any personal experiences you had with Jimmy. And please peruse some of the links below, which contain extensive biographical material, reports on convention appearances in Jimmy's latter years, and other articles.

James Doohan, of course, played, the incomparable "Montgomery Scott," more familiarly known as "Scotty." He was the engineer who treated his warp engines like children, who always knew how to pull the Starship Enterprise out of any sticky situation, and who had enough confidence and authority to take command at a moment's notice.

By the way, it seems rather poetic, almost karmic, that Doohan's birthday, March 3, coincides with that of Alexander Graham Bell — not an engineer per se, but a man who could figure out how to make things work and change the world as a result — and that the date of Doohan's death, July 20, coincides with the anniversary of Neil Armstrong's first steps on the Moon, the most seminal event of mankind's history in space. (Armstrong, by the way, was the keynote speaker at Doohan's tribute banquet during his farewell convention in 2004.)

Doohan was of Irish descent, but born and raised in Canada. He joined the fight against tyranny during World War II by signing up with the Royal Canadian Artillery, and helped to storm the beaches of Normandy on D-Day in 1944. It was during that assault that he took fire from a German sniper, and lost the middle finger on his right hand — a fact that he went to great pains to hide while playing a 23rd-century character in Star Trek.

During the war Doohan was exposed to a wide variety of accents from fellow soldiers, and he spent much of his downtime practicing those voices. When being considered by Gene Roddenberry for the part of the ship's engineer, it was Doohan himself who insisted, "If you want a good engineer, he better be a Scotsman!" Lending an Aberdeen dialect he learned from a fellow soldier to the character, along with his middle name, Doohan literally gave birth himself to the character of "Montgomery Scott."

The rest, of course, is history, one which we shall always remember and cherish. We miss having him in our world, but we wish him well in the next. Somewhere we know that De and Gene and Jimmy are all sharing a toast...