Did Bat Hitch a Ride to Space?

By GINA SUNSERI
HOUSTON, March 17, 2009

The bat, seen clinging to the external fuel tank of the Space Shuttle Discovery before its launch on Sunday, apparently clung for dear life to the side of the tank as the spaceship lifted off.

Closeup of a bat clinging to the fuel tank of the Space Shuttle Discovery during the launch Sunday, March 15, 2009.

(NASA)

And what a ride.

The shuttle accelerates to an orbital velocity of 17,500 milers per hour, which is 25 times faster than the speed of sound, in just over eight minutes. That's zero to 100 mph in 10 seconds.

Did it make it into space? No one knows yet. But photos of Discovery as it cleared the launch tower showed a tiny speck on the side of the tank. When those photos were blown up, it became apparent that the speck was a bat.

Flight director Paul Dye said no one has seen the bat since.

"I heard that it was clinging to the tank at liftoff, but I don't think anyone has seen it since," he said.

Update:

The pictures were taken by Nasa staff as the poor thing hung on while the countdown reached zero, the main engine roared into life, and space shuttle Discovery lifted-off into orbit. Apart from shuffling around a bit, the fair tail bat stayed put. At least for a while.

Discovery launches from Cape Canaveral, Florida, with a bat clinging to its main fuel tank (location indicated by red circle). Photograph: Nasa

Nasa launch controllers used an infra-red camera to confirm the bat was still alive and hadn't frozen onto the shuttle's insulation before take-off. A wildlife expert concluded the creature had a number of injuries, including a damaged wing. It is thought to have perished shortly after the main engine ignited.
Launch Director Mike Leinbach said:

We're characterising him as unexpected debris and he's probably still unexpected debris somewhere.

Nasa's Final Inspection Team, known as ICE, assessed whether the creature posed a risk to the shuttle's heat shield, but decided it was safe to fly with the extra passenger. A Nasa memo said: "The bat eventually became Interim Problem Report 119V-0080 after the ICE team finished their walkdown," adding "Ultimately a Launch Commit Criteria waiver to ICE-01 was written to accept the stowaway."

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