James Doohan's ashes shot into space Photo of late Canadian actor James Doohan courtesy of Wikipedia. LOS ANGELES, May 23 (UPI) -- The ashes of late Canadian actor James Doohan have been successfully sent into Earth orbit via SpaceX's unmanned Falcon 9 rocket, E! The "Star Trek" icon died in 2005 after a battle with pneumonia and Alzheimer's disease. He was 85. A 2008 attempt to launch Doohan's ashes into space -- in accordance with his wishes -- was a failure, E! said. His dream came true, however, when his remains, along with those of more than 300 other deceased individuals, were released into the cosmos Tuesday, the report said.