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shireen Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-17-09 04:20 PM
Original message
Space Shuttle kills bat
This has got to count towards the annals of bizarre space shuttle stories. But it still doesn't top the Northern Flickers that used to peck at the external tank.


A bat that was clinging to space shuttle Discovery’s external fuel tank during the countdown to launch the STS-119 mission remained with the spacecraft as it cleared the tower, analysts at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center concluded.

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. The animal likely perished quickly during Discovery’s climb into orbit.

Because the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge coexists inside Kennedy Space Center, the launch pads have a number of measures available, including warning sirens, to deter birds and other creatures from getting too close. The launch team also uses radar to watch for birds before a shuttle liftoff.

Nevertheless, the bat stayed in place and it was seen changing positions from time to time.

...


More at
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts119/launchbat.html


RIP, little bat ... :(
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Taverner Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-17-09 04:23 PM
Response to Original message
1. Poor bat
At least he's out of his misery now
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GreenPartyVoter Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-17-09 04:23 PM
Response to Original message
2. Poor little bat
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WI_DEM Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-17-09 04:24 PM
Response to Original message
3. Given his injuries he would probably have not lasted long anyway
Probably for the best.
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shireen Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-17-09 04:28 PM
Response to Reply #3
7. true.
i love those little Mexican Free-tail bats. We used to rescue them at the Univ. of Texas Department of Astronomy, when i was there more than 20 years ago. The little fellas would come through the vents during migration, and we had to get them before the custodians found them and killed them. They looked like little chihuahuas with wings ... so cute!
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liberal N proud Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-17-09 04:24 PM
Response to Original message
4. Poor little guy...
He probably hung-on as long as he could.
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hugo_from_TN Donating Member (895 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-17-09 04:30 PM
Response to Reply #4
9. LOL - good one!
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sufrommich Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-17-09 06:53 PM
Response to Reply #4
25. ........
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cobalt1999 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-17-09 04:26 PM
Response to Original message
5. Maybe the bat wanted the world altitude record for his species
Probably got drunk and said to his little bat buddies "Hell, I can hang onto that thing until orbit. Hold my beer."
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NeedleCast Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-17-09 04:26 PM
Response to Original message
6. Is is Wrong that This Reminds me of the Movie Vacation?
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greenkal Donating Member (87 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-17-09 04:29 PM
Response to Original message
8. Yet another reason to dislike the wasteful space program (ntxt)
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NeedleCast Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-17-09 04:32 PM
Response to Reply #8
10. Science Bad!
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cobalt1999 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-17-09 04:40 PM
Response to Reply #8
12. To quote Larry Niven
"The dinosaurs became extinct because they didn't have a space program. And if we become extinct because we don't have a space program, it'll serve us right!"
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Warren DeMontague Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-17-09 06:55 PM
Response to Reply #8
26. Oh, for fuck's sake.
:eyes:
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RT Atlanta Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-17-09 04:39 PM
Response to Original message
11. God speed space shuttle bat!
n/t
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ddeclue Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-17-09 04:42 PM
Response to Original message
13. He did it because is dream was to become a .....batronaut!
Edited on Tue Mar-17-09 04:42 PM by ddeclue
:rofl:

Couldn't resist that one..

Sorry 'bout the bat folks... a few years back the shuttle nailed some buzzards on the way up as I recall too.
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NYC_SKP Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-17-09 04:43 PM
Response to Original message
14. Sad, I suppose, but what a way to go!!!
How many bats can say they ever flew that high or that fast?

I think it might even have survived.

A true acro-bat.
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Rider Haggard Donating Member (142 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-17-09 04:44 PM
Response to Original message
15. Oh god. The Shuttle crew is going to come back as space vampires.
I've seen this movie.

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muriel_volestrangler Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-17-09 05:41 PM
Response to Reply #15
17. Dear God - I was going to ask where the hell you found that
It looks awful - checking IMDB, I see somehow it got nominated for 'best horror film' in one awards list (not one I'd heard of, admittedly). But there's a lot of people who must hope that people forget about it:

Frank Finlay - a proper serious, starring actor, in things like the 3/4 Musketeers, and much more
Peter Firth - now doing Spooks (aka MI-5)
and ...
Patrick Stewart! It was one of the last things he did before Star Trek.
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Rider Haggard Donating Member (142 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-17-09 06:24 PM
Response to Reply #17
20. Actually, the movie is a lot of fun.
It was Tobe Hooper's answer to his very own Poltergeist. It had a little too much nudity in it for many but it was a tip of the hat to the Hammer films of the 50's and 60's. You can still find it on Netflix.
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Tesha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-17-09 06:30 PM
Response to Reply #17
21. Aw c'mon -- naked space vampires -- how can you go wrong? (NT)
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Rider Haggard Donating Member (142 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-17-09 06:48 PM
Response to Reply #21
24. They destroyed half the world in Poltergeist fashion but they were
HOT! :)

I officially condone the destruction of our planet if the destroyers are hot looking and nekkid. :)

And just in case, this is sarcasm. I don't care how hot the space aliens are that come to destroy us, I will not be happy that they did it. Even if they're hot. Really hot. But if they look like...
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daleo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-17-09 04:52 PM
Response to Original message
16. Here's hoping there was no damage to the shuttle
Considering what some dislodged foam has done in the past.
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backscatter712 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-17-09 05:44 PM
Response to Original message
18. On the bright side, he died as a pioneer...
First bat in space!!! :evilgrin:
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Dukkha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-17-09 05:46 PM
Response to Original message
19. rather over ambitious little bat
trying to one-up the birds who take down jet planes through the exhaust.
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Noodleboy13 Donating Member (184 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-17-09 06:36 PM
Response to Original message
22. Bats. In. Spaaaaaaaaaaace! n/t
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Deja Q Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-17-09 06:37 PM
Response to Original message
23. Tastes like chicken.
:hide:
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shireen Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Mar-17-09 07:03 PM
Response to Original message
27. LOL!
sad as it is for the bat -- and I really do feel sad for the little fella -- i can't help but love the way this thread has degenerated ....
DU has some very funny people. Thanks for the laugh. :)
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