Bat Hitches Ride to Space on Shuttle Discovery

[WriteDown]

Source: Fox News

A small bat that was spotted blasting off with the space shuttle Sunday and clinging to the back side of Discovery's external fuel tank apparently held on throughout the launch.

NASA hoped the bat would fly away before the spacecraft's Sunday evening liftoff, but photos from the launch now show the bat holding on for dear life throughout the fiery ride.

"He did change the direction he was pointing from time to time throughout countdown but ultimately never flew away," states a NASA memo obtained by SPACE.com. "Infrared imagery shows he was alive and not frozen like many would think ... Liftoff imagery analysis confirmed that he held on until at least the vehicle cleared tower before we lost sight of him."

Officials at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., where Discovery launched from a seaside pad, said the bat's outlook after launch appears grim.

"Based on images and video, a wildlife expert who provides support to the center said the small creature was a free tail bat that likely had a broken left wing and some problem with its right shoulder or wrist," NASA officials said Tuesday. "The animal likely perished quickly during Discovery's climb into orbit."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,509666,00.html

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Poor bat. Not good.

[Coventina]

1. In spite of all the horrible things that happen every minute in this world

That story bummed me out so much I'm fighting back tears right now.

I guess once in a while, a little thing seems to encapsulate all the senseless suffering in the world....

[Frustratedlady]

3. My reaction as well, although in the back of my mind...

I wondered how long it would be before the Repugs screamed they should have stopped the launch...that it was on Obama's watch.

It isn't beyond possibilities.

[roguevalley]

10. exactly. poor little baby. Flying free and well in the summerlands

now. I cringe when helpless things suffer. what a terrible few moments for that harmless little soul.

[Name removed]

17. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[davepc]

28. Whats the difference if it died shooting into space or been eaten by an owl or hawk?

Not like NASA put that bat there with the intent to torture it.

Some bats land in places accessible to snakes, raccoons, opossums, skunks, or spiders which then lead to a quick death to the bat and dinner for the animal.

[Coventina]

29. I was making a general comment about the suffering of all creatures.

I don't think NASA should be shut down, any more than I think people should stop driving cars because they might hit a deer, dog, or person.

It was a story that just hit me as being sad. A symbol of the suffering that comes with all life.

[bitchkitty]

40. Difference is a bat shooting into space hasn't fed anything.

Unless of course there are space snakes or space raccoons?

It made me sad too, in the same way it makes me sad to see a dead animal in the road.

edited for typo

[Schema Thing]

43. It seems to have fed the DU hunger

[bitchkitty]

44. LOL n/t

[NashVegas]

46. Because Those Would Have Been Natural Deaths

This animal death happened because it mistakenly got caught up in Man's Tribute to His Own Glory.

You should try dropping a little acid sometime, it might help you gain understanding and a little more poetic vision.

[davepc]

52. Yeah, like totaly man. Far out.

[Boudica the Lyoness]

2. This is sad.

He thought he was hanging on for dear life but he was doomed. Dear little bat.

[Agent William]

35. sup?

That is all...

[DS1]

4. On the bright side, there's still no vampires aboard the ISS

RIP Bat!

[tomreedtoon]

15. Are you sure? Have you checked astronaut teeth recently?

That bat has gone back to its masters in Hell to report its mission was a success!

[JanMichael]

5. Couldn't one of these brilliant PhD's found a way to remove

the damned bat BEFORE he died during taking???

Fuck me. Even the rocket scientists can't act like rocket scientists anymore.

I hate 2009.

[Coventina]

6. I had the same question. How hard could it have been?

:cry:

[lapfog_1]

8. What, exactly, would you have them do?

speaking as a former NASA scientist...

The bat was FAR FAR more dangerous to the astronauts and the shuttle than we are to it.

Remember the bits of insulation foam from the external tank hitting the thermal protective tiles of the shuttle.

Now try to image a 10oz bat (or however big he was) hitting those same tiles at the velocity reached within a couple of minutes of
launch...

I'm sorry the little fellow died, but I'm very happy he decided to hang on for as long as possible (apparently through tank separation).

[Coventina]

9. If it was such a danger, why didn't they remove it before take-off?

The OP makes it pretty clear that they were aware the bat was there before the launch. If it was a risk they should have removed it.

[merh]

12. My question as well.

They should have removed the bat rather than risk harm to the crew.

A bat that was not part of the plan, an "o" ring that has worn thin - we all know the shuttle is not built for uncertainties and unplanned events.

[lapfog_1]

61. True, little known fact...

the shuttle was always a "prototype" (from design to engineering). Everything about it was, at the time of it's design, an exploration
into new technologies. Only after the budget cutbacks of mid and late seventies did NASA decide to simply press it into service and
build a "fleet".

For the Apollo mission, there were numerous prototypes, starting with the entire Gemini project. Every "generation" of new stuff
refined technology explored in the previous (with generations of technology coming about one every 3 years).

The fleet should never have been built. After Challenger made a few flights (like, say, 3), a whole new shuttle should have been
built and flown (with better protective tiles, no O-rings in the SRBs, better computer systems, etc, etc.

Everybody at NASA said the same thing (at least when I was there).

And the sad truth is that NASA really should have not done the whole "get to the Moon as quick as possible" Kennedy thing.

If they hadn't had that 10 years to the moon project, it's quite likely that NASA would have stayed on the "take off like a plane,
go to space, return like a plane" path that they were on with the X program. And we would all be doing Arthur Clarke's 2001 stuff
today.

[merh]

69. I truly can't believe they took the risk

[lapfog_1]

75. Nasa has always been about public image...

because without public support, there would be no money.

Hence the manned missions. Sending robotic technology always made more sense, but it doesn't capture the imagination. Sending
people who are risking their lives, that's drama, that's TV ratings, that's public interest. That's money.

Think anyone would have made a movie about Apollo 13 if it had been just another failed robotic mission to Mars?

Anyone name any of the failed robotic Mars missions? (I can, but then I would be cheating).

They took the risk because it was the only vehicle that the Congress would fund. But nobody really liked the idea. They
only got the funding when they promised some very outlandish stuff, like 12 missions a year or more, like a cost per pound
lifted into space that was loony. And I'm pretty sure they thought "pull this off and we will have money in the late eighties
to do a complete re-design for the nineties" only it never happened because Ronnie Raygun was all about tax cuts and military
spending, not science.

[merh]

76. I understand the shuttle missions and why

I don't understand why the flight with the bat was not postponed until the bat was removed.

At this point in time, another shuttle disaster and NASA can kiss the shuttle missions good bye.

O ring explosion - missing heat shields disaster - they were lucky the bat didn't cause problems.

[lapfog_1]

77. I think I said this in another reply

I'm pretty sure they figured that the bat would fly away on main engine start (before it could really do damage). Nasa
has always had flocks of birds in and around the launch pad... the launch pads are out in a protected wildlife preserve
and part of the Florida coastal swamplands. The birds have always flown off. You can see film clips of launches with
flocks of birds in the foreground, flying away from one of the louder noises that mankind has ever created.

I guess that they haven't had much experience with bats.

Anyway, yeah, there was some danger with the bat... it weighs enough that should it have come unstuck at the wrong time, yeah,
it could hurt the shuttle protective tiles. However, it's not easy to stop a launch... that involves some danger as well, not
to mention a horrendous expense.

I bet right now they have people practicing with pointer lasers or sound systems or something.

Given that the bat held on long enough to probably freeze to death on his ride, I'm not sure a passive method like I just
outlined would have knocked him off the external tank. Sending someone up to get him, well, I just don't know what that
would be like. Need to have a set of "inspection" cherry pickers installed on the gantry, that can extend horizontally AND
be able to get all the way around the external tank, without touching anything. And then what, reach out with a brush
or something to knock him loose... anyway... the mind boggles as the prospects. And for something that is, apparently, very
rare.

Right now, my guess is that they are looking for ways to the make the launch pad area inhospitable to bats and birds.

[lapfog_1]

14. How, exactly, would you remove it?

I'm pretty sure they thought of a number of concepts.

Delay the launch until it flew away? Does anyone have any concept of how dangerous that would be? Unloading the liquid Hydrogen and
Oxygen from the external tank... not to mention the expense.

There isn't any scaffolding to get near it, not to mention a cherry picker or something. And putting anything like that next to
a loaded and ready to go shuttle configuration... without having practiced it in the past.

Shoot it down? (no, nobody is that stupid).

Fog the entire shuttle launch complex with some sort of knock out drugs... again, it's a loaded shuttle, one doesn't spray chemicals at
it... not of any sort. Nor would one spray water on it. Even a garden hose pressure water might damage the external tank protective
foam cover. Laser (maybe low power) to irritate it into leaving... possible... probably wouldn't work.

Again, I'm sure it was discussed... and the best option was "Hey, when this baby fires up, the noise and vibration alone should
make it leave the area" (there HAVE been birds there in the past, and they always take flight when a launch begins).

[Coventina]

27. Well, since you indicated that the whole thing could have blown up

because of the bat, I figured it would be pretty big priority to do something ahead of time other than shrug and say, "Well, maybe it'll just fly away."

How many millions of dollars & lives were at stake, anyway?

If this is how NASA is run, it's not a big confidence booster.

[NMDemDist2]

54. see my post #56 n/t

[AlbertCat]

22. Good lord, people!

Perhaps the bat was in an inaccessible part of the rocket while on the launch pad. (It is many stories high) Perhaps it would've taken too long to get to it and they would've lost their launch window. (They can't send the shuttle up at any ol' time, y'know) It might have cost millions to fool with the thing.

Don't worry. There are plenty of bats for everyone! Maybe a few hundred will infest your attic some day! Then you can go up there and love them all you want.

[NashVegas]

59. We Can Send a Man to the Moon But We Can't Make a Broom With a Long Enough Handle

to shoo a bat?

Jeepers ...

[Tommy_J]

48. No telling how long it held on

but it certainly would have died before MaxQ, and possibly in the first few seconds from acoustic environments. The tank foam is singed to a brownish hue well before the solids are ejected so if he was still attached he was already cooked.

Anyway, godspeed little bat!

:nopity:

[NMDemDist2]

53. a free tailed bat is no bigger than your thumb and weighs the same as a nickel coin

he wouldn't hurt the shuttle

[lapfog_1]

60. Yeah, no more so than a feather weight bit of

foam insulation. It all depends on how long the bat (probably already dead) held on. If the dead bat finally is torn lose from
it's perch at 3,000 mph or so (and still in the atmosphere), well, even a Q-tip, if traveling fast enough, can really really hurt.

[Posteritatis]

78. The foam chunk weighed thousands of times more than the bat (nt)

[Fearless]

7. THIS IS WHAT FOX DEEMS NEWS???

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Posteritatis]

21. Hey, there's folks in this thread all outraged at NASA over it too

So they seem to think it's important too. For some reason.

[Fearless]

25. Hmm... The economy is crap... Unemployment is rising... Don't let a bat die...

:eyes:

[Posteritatis]

26. Aren't priorities awesome? (nt)

[emmadoggy]

11. Awww, poor guy.

I do feel really badly for this poor little bat - but please forgive my secondary reaction which is a reluctant chuckle. Only because it immediately brought to mind an incident from this past weekend that turned into a side-splitting and dark inside joke between my DH and I (it involved another unfortunate bat).

This guy met with some really bad luck. :-(

[4lbs]

13. The bat had a broken wing and problematic right shoulder. It likely wasn't going to survive much

longer without human intervention even if it had "jumped off" the shuttle rocket booster.

[kestrel91316]

16. ......to boldly go where no bat has gone before........

A true American hero. RIP, Batman.

[nikto]

18. Don't laugh...

Now DRACULA is in SPACE!!:o

[galledgoblin]

19. didn't you know Dracula lives on the moon?

has for decades now.

poor lil' bat.

[rpannier]

24. With JFK, Elvis and Hitler

[WriteDown]

68. And Fidel Castro...

Sorry, couldn't resist.

[galledgoblin]

72. personally, I was thinking of Dr. Doom and Dr. McNinja

http://drmcninja.com/page.php?pageNum=16&issue=11
http://www.marvelnoise.com/2009/02/08/sneak-peeks-captain-britain-and-mi13-10/

[L0oniX]

20. Flash: Bat Boy spotted on space station.

[slay]

38. With pic!

[NashVegas]

58. *coughs*

[slay]

67. hahah

nice

[rpannier]

23. Sad

Poor little thing

[dipsydoodle]

30. A cricket bat ?

That stumps me.

[BeatleBoot]

31. It was the flight of that bat's life, no doubt - be happy

Don't mourn said bat.

He/she was heading towards nature's end anyways, it sounds.

And what a way to go, given the winged creature's method of mobility.


He/she has been recycled into Mother Earth.


We are all heading in the same direction, sorry to say.

Our physical remnants, too, will be recycled into Mother Earth.


And our souls will rise to meet the heavens...


Bye-bye batty-guy. See you on the flip side.

[IDemo]

32. "Ride to Space"?

The headline sort of makes it sound as if the bat made it into orbit, although it very likely fell or was blown off by the wind force not far above the tower.

[TXRAT2]

36. it very likely fell or was blown off by the wind force not far above the tower.

Yep! Then the intense temperatures generated by the engines and the launch itself immediately vaporized it. I suspect several small mammals and birds go up in smoke every time they launch.

[lapfog_1]

62. Uh, no...

Not unless it was hanging on at or near the exhaust of the SRBs or main engines.

The best place (and where I understand the bat to have been) for it to "perch" would have been to hang onto the foam insulation
of the main "rocket fuel" tank (that big orange thing that the SRBs are strapped to).

And it could have held on (and stayed alive for a number of minutes). And it's body (not vaporized) could have clung to the
insulation all the way to "space" when the tank separates from the shuttle. And (possible) it might have even clung to the
tank for part of re-entry... but we will never know.

[Sin]

33. To all worried about the bat

Think of all the germs and bacteria that got vaporised on the launch pad.. and all the mosquitos, flies and other insects that died due to impact of the shuttle.
The change in wind direction that exuded from the lift off causing a gust of wind to form 300 miles away pushing a baby bird out of its nest into a chipper shredder, jamming the gears. Oh look what's that? Its little Timmy trying to save the bird. No Timmy Don't Do it!
Thats Right Timmy reached in and now is dead, shredded with the bird.

What I'm saying is, think of the children. We should stop all shuttle launches for things out of our control.

[KittyWampus]

64. Noooooo! Not little Timmy too....

[Buns_of_Fire]

71. Those bastards!

(Oh, wait, that was Kenny. Never mind.)

[cessnaphile]

34. Someone should name the little fella Max Q.

('cause that's when he probably fell off)

[Blandocyte]

37. I choose to imagine

that the bat, tired of mere wing-powered flight and having seen some liftoffs, attached itself to the shuttle on purpose. During liftoff it was smiling a multi-g-force smile and yelling, "Yeah! Yeah! Oh, yeaaaaahhhh, bitches!!!!" as it flew higher and faster than any other bat, and achieved immortality in bat legend.

[SylviaD]

39. Yes

I like that idea!

[KittyWampus]

65. Honestly, that's what I imagined too.

creative minds may or may not think alike but do manage to share in some fun

[madibella]

66. Yes! Yes! This has to be what happened!

[Lost in CT]

41. It's not like it was a kitten....

[Marie26]

42. This makes me so sad for some reason.

Why is that? Poor little bat.

[Beetwasher]

45. There's A Comic Book Hero Creation Story Here

Bat on rocket. Rocket exposed to cosmic radiation. Astronaut inside radiated w/ batty goodness. Wham! A superhero is born.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

47. Or a Super Villain. Just sayin.

:evilgrin:

[Beetwasher]

50. Astronauts Become Superheroes

Yeesh, don't you know anything!

[Phoonzang]

49. Or Rodan

[Beetwasher]

51. I Have To Admit

I can't prove that's not possible.

[guitar man]

55. I have mixed feelings

I feel sorry that the little guy most likely didn't make it, but, damn, what a final flight he had! ;)

[flaminbats]

56. yikes..

and I thought I was leaving hell.

[LeftHander]

57. Future Headline: Stowaway Bat Struck Leading Wing Edge...nt

[lapfog_1]

63. And that's the one that probably had a few shuttle managers

staying up late looking at films.

And the only reason to, in the future, try to do something to remove any bats from the launch area.

Right now, I bet there are Kennedy guys having a few meeting on

a. Keeping bats out of the launch area all the time.

b. Coming up with makeshift bat removal solutions in case a) doesn't work.

[BrightKnight]

70. Why post this story from FAUX News?

CNN Link:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/space/03/18/bat.shuttle/index.html

ABC Link:

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=7107251

[depakid]

74. Why use CNN or ABC? They're every bit as bad-

http://www.smh.com.au/world/science/bat-clings-onto-space-shuttle-20090319-92kl.html

[stlsaxman]

73. Why am i reminded of the whale falling through space in The Hitchhikers Guide?

What could have been going through that bats mind?

"Damn- that's LOUD! hey just a second here.... where we going?!?!? heheheh- wheeeeeeee!!!!!!"