Bat Boards Discovery, Stowaway Unlikely to Have Survived

By Urbanist in Animals & Pets, Travel on Mar 18, 2009 at 9:43 pm

Hitchhikers in space … wasn’t there a book about that? An apparently injured bat was expected to simply fly away when the spacecraft gunned the engines before take-off but inexplicably clung to the outside of the ship as it made its way up. It is speculated that the bat may have been injured and unable to fly away. There was, needless to say, no sign of the bat when the Discovery docked at the International Space Station.

NASA officials noticed the bat before shuttle’s liftoff and brought in a wildlife expert to look at video images of it. The expert said it appeared to be a free-tailed bat that probably had a broken left wing and an injured right shoulder or wrist.

link

Tags: Animals & Pets, bat, Space, strange

Neat stuff from the NeatoShop:

juan lindo
Mar 18th, 2009 at 10:19 pm
that’s a hell of a way to go out. i can only imagine the feeling and view and taste and pressure. if you gotta go that’s one way to trump. of course they could’ve just moved it and told it it happened to land on a giant missile that is headed out of space where there is no life insofar as you will travel.
SenorMysterioso
Mar 18th, 2009 at 10:28 pm
He knew his wing was broken and wanted to live out his life long dream of going to space

Hopefully he wasnt exposed to cosmic rays or we may be seeing him again
LisaL
Mar 18th, 2009 at 10:40 pm
Awwww, poor lil fella.
attilla
Mar 19th, 2009 at 12:03 am
Baaaaaaaaaats in spaaaaaaaaace….
Evilbeagle
Mar 19th, 2009 at 4:02 am
Poor little guy. At least he went out in style and is probably the talk of all his bat friends.
Bape Nerd
Mar 19th, 2009 at 4:10 am
nice trip for the little guy, wonder where it is now..
SweetMonkeyCreek
Mar 19th, 2009 at 6:00 am
If that guy doesn’t come back angry, shooting radioactive lasers, and the sze of a Buick…I will be REALLY disappointed.
phoulx
Mar 19th, 2009 at 6:41 am
Hello NASA? This is PETA calling.
Johnny Cat
Mar 19th, 2009 at 11:01 am
“Ouch, I think I sprained my arm. I’ll just sit here for awhile and let it heal. Wait, wtf is this noise, rumbling? Ahhhh!”

poor thing.
dorkhero
Mar 19th, 2009 at 11:46 am
For one brief moment in time that bat flew higher, faster, and further than any bat had flown before.

He was at the top of the pyramid. He had the right stuff.
Evilbeagle
Mar 19th, 2009 at 11:50 am
With a broken bone he would have died a slow, painful little bat death. This was the way to go.
webwench
Mar 19th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
an ode to Space Bat
surly bonds slipped, stars in his
windblown little eyes
Johnny Cat
Mar 19th, 2009 at 1:54 pm
nice haiku!
kilna
Mar 19th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
A true hero…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ibq2IwznCgc
Vaalseun
Mar 20th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
I have had it with these motherf***ing bats on this motherf***ing shuttle!
Snake Oil Baron
Mar 20th, 2009 at 8:18 pm
Vaalseun said:

“I have had it with these motherf***ing bats on this motherf***ing shuttle!”

I liked that.

As for the bat, I would have chosen that as the way to go too but still – poor little guy. I hope Bat Heaven has some juicy bugs waiting for him (sinner bugs from Bug Hell obviously – where all the bugs that fly into peoples teeth on roller-coasters go).
james braselton
Mar 21st, 2009 at 9:15 pm
HI THERE I DONT THINK ANY THING WOULD STOP THAT BAT LAST I HAVE HEARD THAT THE BAT WAS INSIDE AIRLOCK 4 CHAMBER INSIDE THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION I DONT KNOW HOW TRUE THAT IS BUT I HAVE NASA TV AT MY MOMS SHOP AND THOUGHT I SAW THE BAT FLYING AROUND COULD THE BAT SNOOK IN WHILE THE HANGER WAS RETRACTING WHILE THE SHUTTEL DOOR STILL OPEN
semi
Mar 24th, 2009 at 9:01 pm
Here’s the latest:

http://www.universetoday.com/2009/03/17/the-discovery-bats-fate-is-con firmed/

“So what happened? If the bat wasn’t frozen to the shuttle, why would he remain stuck on the external fuel tank? Surely he should have flown away when the shuttle powered up and vibrated before lift off? According to a NASA press release, the bat may have had little choice but to cling onto the shuttle. When the images were examined by a wildlife specialist, the conclusion was the bat may have had a broken wing, forcing him to hold on tight.

“Unfortunately, holding onto the fuel tank spelled certain doom; it is doubtful he would have been able to remain attached as the violent shaking and g-forces took hold. Although he made it as high as the launch tower, it is likely the bat dropped off and died in the searing 1400°C exhaust of the throttling boosters.”
Jake15265788
Jan 1st, 2010 at 3:55 pm
Of course their was no sign of him at he space station!

He was hanging on to the rocket boosters. They are not even attached to the shuttle and fall off before the shuttle enters orbit. The person who wrote this article really needs to do some basic simple research of the topic before hitting enter.

Keep track of the comments with

Comment RSS

Lijit Search

The latest from NeatoBambino: