Slashdot Mirror
Did Bat Hitch a Ride To Space On Discovery?
suraj.sun writes "A bat was 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.
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."
Poor bat. Can we come up with a better name for him (or her) than 119V-0080? We're talking about the highest- and fastest-flying bat of all time, probably. A real name is definitely in order.
>When those photos were blown up
poor photo.
Yes, I'm left. You have a problem with that?
Bats on a Shuttle?
Spacebatman, now that would be news!
Where are the animal rights crowd? PETA should have a field-day with this.
Submission as evidence constitutes plaintiff and/or prosecutorial misconduct.
The Air Force Research Lab is developing an Electric Motor-powered Micro Air Vehicle (MAV) that can 'harvest' energy when needed by attaching itself to a power line. It can also temporarily change its shape to look more like innocuous piece of trash hanging from the cable.
I guess I assumed that they meant the US Air Force.
Your answer: Val Kilmer sucks. Your wager: George Clooney sucks.
There are some places even the BatPlane can't go ... yet.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
The muppets show they have never shown.
Wetbat !!!
LEO is bat country!
Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
Did he bring Robin along ?
Where did that myth come from anyway?
Poor bat. Can we come up with a better name for him (or her) than 119V-0080? We're talking about the highest- and fastest-flying bat of all time, probably. A real name is definitely in order.
Bruce Wayne?!
Could be worse. Could be raining.
So we are to believe some conspiracy theories, aliens are going to capture it, thinking that bats are the dominant intelligent species of Earth. (After watching too much Batman from Earth tv.) Soon the bat will return to Earth as a super intelligent genetically engineered super bat and try to dominate Earth. Just like the chimps. Welcome, my wonderful new bat masters. Please don't probe me.
Contrary to popular opinion, we never got a bat into space. It is a conspiracy by the government to one-up batman. You're all a bunch of sheeple.
If you're looking for the truth about animals in space, look here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvjgIxuVdo4 [moon bears, the whitest kids you know]
there's a YouTube clip of 3 or 4 buzzards circling the shuttle at lift off. You can guess what happens next. It looks like they get stunned before they're even struck, probably from all the noise. They flutter down to the engines and that's that.
I came to the datacenter drunk with a fake ID, don't you want to be just like me?
I don't how strong a bat is, but I doubt he was able to hang on that long. My guess is his claws gave out, he slid and clawed is way down the tank, and went out in a huge blaze of glory with the whole world watching and wondering.
Lucky fucker.
Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
Batassss
I'm just glad it wasn't a mission to somewhere other than our immediate space. Whether or not the bat survives, throwing a kilo or so of biological/bacterialogical matter around could seriously jeopardise the sterility of some quite interesting places. Send a mission to Mars one week, find the next week that it's overrun by heat-loving bacteria that spread like mad and cover the planet. It's not impossible, and then where would our search for the origins of life be?
Moreover, I'm surprised that they didn't cancel the flight for such a thing. It only needs to slightly dislodge a heat tile, or create some other tiny imbalance and the shuttle crew could be toast. You can't launch in a sterile environment, but if you spotted the damn thing and "just hoped" it would fly away, that's pretty poor risk management. I hope they at least did a quick back-of-the-envelope look to see if it *could* be risky, rather than just hoping it wouldn't be.
The external tank doesn't make it into space. It separates from the shuttle before that. Unless the bat managed to switch horses in the middle of the stream.
VAMPIRES IN SPACE
Are any of the astronauts oversexed teens? All those '50s sci-fi movies will come true one day, you just watch.
30 feet off the pad the engines gave out and the bat carried them into orbit.
Heroic fucker.
Are they sure it's not a mynock?
You show them fly boys how its done!!
It was Dracula!
"So long and thanks for all the bugs."
It's not a lie. It's the truth with lossy compression.
an orbital velocity of 17,500 milers per hour
Milers.
bats can't survive in space.
bats can't survive in the upper atmosphere.
bats aren't falcons.
They're using their grammar skills there.
Godspeed little bat.
Let's just hope that bat uses his newly aquired superbat abilities (after the appropriate amount of exposure to intense intergalactic radiation) for good, and not evil.
Twinkle, twinkle, little bat!
How I wonder what you're at!
Up above the world you fly,
Like a teatray in the sky.
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
Oblig:
I for one, welcome our new Space-Bat overlords.
Title of the post says it all.
"...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.
And that folks, is the difference between NASA-cam and your average gas-station-cam, which, on average, can't identify Bigfoot if it were robbing the place.
NASA should investigate adhering heat tiles with bat claws
Is it April 1st already?
Details at 11...
We're seeing the first steps in the evolution of space-bats!
Pffft. My car is faster then that. Seriously.
I'm a firm believer in the philosophy of a ruling class, especially since I rule.
NASA better be prepared for the upcoming lawsuit from PETA
until the space shuttle burns up on re-entry because the bat chewed a hole in it or something.
they say it is often more relevant then the comment above, all we know is its called the Sig!
Sounds like it would make a good Pixar movie.
One small nap for bat, one giant leap for batkind.
A new villian for the Fantastic Four--Collossal Cosmic Space Bat!
I use irony whenever I can, but my shirts are still wrinkled...
is to get bats into space, so they can colonise the universe.
politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
other things bats are not or cannot do...
Bats cannot swallow a whole hotdog
Bats cannot follow the finer details of Neon Genesis Evangelion
Bats aren't horses, sheep or baseball bats
they say it is often more relevant then the comment above, all we know is its called the Sig!
The numbers on acceleration are incorrect. The last I knew, the Shuttle went supersonic in ~10 seconds. After that it doesn't really pick up a lot of speed until its out of the atmosphere and most of the fuel is burned up. They are supersonic by the time they get the "Throttle up" command. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle
How do you know that guidance system on the shuttle wasn't sabotaged in an obscure plot for world domination that was narrowly averted by this bat flying in at the last minute and guiding the shuttle into orbit only to return quickly to the offices of the Daily Bat and resume his secret identity has Gerald the Bat, mild mannered reporter.
Genesis 1:32 And God typed
Batman, come on and save us !
No wonder his mind is warped
Do you prefer your bat roasted or freeze dried? Once the launch started I think those were the only two options.
Correct me if I misunderstood. But... Bigfoot bummed a ride on the space shuttle?
Holy Way-out Tangents Batman! Is that Bigfoot over there?!?
This bat is no more! He has ceased to be! He's expired and gone to meet his maker! He's a stiff! Bereft of life, he rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed him to the perch he'd be pushing up the daisies! His metabolic processes are now history! He's off the twig! He's kicked the bucket, he's shuffled off his mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleeding choir invisible!! THIS IS AN EX-BAT!!
I was at the Space Center last Tuesday and didn't realize he'd gotten away until we got home. Sorry about this! (OK...I admit this is a fabrication. But I really was there last Tuesday.)
If your only tool is a hammer, every problem becomes a nail.
Bats aren't horses, sheep or baseball bats
In the face of all the potential examples of what bats are not, your failure to pick 3 things is mind-boggling.
Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure everything I just said is completely wrong.
A new Muppet Show is obviously on the way...
That's a shitload of beer.
Godspeed batman, godspeed.
err
Casket of Soil Mistakenly Sent to ISS in lieu of Supplies soon followed by... ISS Infested by Vampires
To quote a famous rock star:
"Like a bat out of hell..."
At the end of their report on the bat they speculate whether the bat was still clinging to the shuttle when it docked witht the ISS. How they think it managed to jump from the external tank to the shuttle during lift-off is beyond me.
I'm too lazy to compose a creative sig.
NASA finds, among a pile of junk mail, a gift-wrapped bowl inscribed with the words "So Long and Thanks for All the Gnats."
That's it people, the Earth is fraked. The Vogon demolition fleet must be on its way.
And I never said he was.
...why not, 'Tiffany?' Anyhow, it's name is Mudd, now.
There is nothing to FEAR but NOTHING itself; and I fear there is a whole lot of nothing going on. --scorpivs
a baseball bat and an animal bat are not the same, i fail to see why this so mind boggling.
they say it is often more relevant then the comment above, all we know is its called the Sig!
Obviously this was the first know case of aBIHALO drop - Bat Initiated High Altitude Low Opening
I for one do not welcome my new space bat overlords.
WTF Slashdot, why do I have to login 50 times to post?
Yes they are.
Bats are falcons, and falcons are dogs - so get it right... ...Now dogs can't survive in space unless they have a Russian name, and that is only until they run out of food, water, and air.
I love the scientific method!
Oh no no no
I'm a rocketbat
rocketbat -- burning out his fuse up here alone
I smell a Disney Adventure movie. I hope they're in talked to his agent.
The solid rocket boosters separate 125 seconds into the flight at about 150,000 feet (46 km). About seven minutes later when the external tank (ET) separates 30 seconds after MECO, it's at about 120 km, so it's already in space (going with 100 km as the boundary, which is greater than your 50 miles). Additionally, although it's on a suborbital trajectory, it is not yet at the apogee of that trajectory.
I do not have a number for its apogee, but since the OMS-1 burn is generally not required anymore, you can assume to a first approximation that the ET's apogee is close to that of the Shuttle. Without it's own version of the Shuttle's OMS-2 burn to circularize the ET's orbit, however, the ET reenters the atmosphere after less than a complete orbit.
Regardless, if the ill-fated bat with the apparently broken wing (or its earthly, perhaps spacely, remains) managed to stay attached through max Q, it could have been the first animal (body) to make it up to space.
Poor little guy. Probably kept up with you for the first mile or two...
All while the Fat Lady was Singing ?!
We are Dead Stars looking back Up at the Sky
And I fail to see the word 'animal' in your original post.
I for one welcome our new chiropteran overlords!
"So after all this, you make my case for me. To end this stalemate, you must die..."
quick, someone get disney or pixar on the phone! i have a movie idea to pitch to them about a bat who wants nothing more than to go to space.
Well there goes my plan to enter a bat in the Nathans Hotdog eating contest.
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 1400C exhaust of the throttling boosters.
Check out our infosecurity industry blog: http://securitymusings.com/
than no i don't think it made it to space.
Unless they took the tank to space somehow...
Or does the tank actually make it to what is considered 'space'by entering so sort of xxxxsphere
Ladies, and Gentlemen (mainly gentlemen, I mean it is slashdot),
I believe it is time for Science to sacrifice itself in the name of adorability. The picture of this bat is ruined, knowing that it met its untimely demise shortly after.
I propose from here onwards, all evidence suggesting that the bat died is completely disregarded. The bat made it into space, and is now enjoying life in the cosmic wind. That is all we need to know.
I would have named her "Misty".
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
Uhm, it's a CNN reporter, they don't actually think, never have and probably never will.
I'll bet that Koichi Wakata is really a vampire, and the bats are friends along for the ride...
Like a bat out of hell Ill be gone gone gone
Like a bat out of hell Ill be gone when the morning comes
When the day is done
And the sun goes down
And the moonlights shining through
Then like a sinner before the gates of heaven
I'll come crawling on back to you
He should be named Leo (Low Earth Orbit)
We now know the terrible cost of our scientific endeavors. NASA should adorn every future space shuttle with an image of a bat. NASA should adopt it as their mascot, lest we forget.
How much rocket fuel does that bat owe us? Anyone up for the computation?
Shows you what you know...
Fact #1: Bats = bugs
and what group of species seems to be able to survive anything? Huh?
We can't stop here! This is bat country!
True. So very true.
I'm too lazy to compose a creative sig.
Genesis 1:32 And God typed :wq!
Wow, you're treading on thin ice here. I mean there are some things that should never be made fun of. Do you realize how many people could take offense at this "joke"? People could be screaming "blasphemy" and worse! I'm personally not offended, but I think a lot of people wouldn't be so tolerant. I think you are running the risk of creating hatred and even violence with this kind of mockery.
I mean, implying that the Creator of the Universe doesn't use Emacs? That's harsh... where's your sense of decorum and respect for other people's religions?!
You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
Are you saying that there are vampires on the ISS now?
William Shatner, ladies and gentlemen.
[spoken in Chinese] Hey Captain - look what I see! A bat! Seriously! right next to us! Look!
(dead bat)
Amazing - how can a bat fly this high? Let's do an EV and collect him.
OR:
Frozen bat carcass, travelling at 17,000 mph slams head on into spaceship travelling 17,000 mph, resulting in an explosion visible from the ground. yay.
"Mommy, daddy! Look at the fireworks! Pretty!"
RS
Shoes for Industry. Shoes for the Dead.
Seriously, no one is gonna say it.... i have to.. fine.... MOONBAT!
If the creator did use Emacs it would come with a decent text editor.
Whoosh...
To boldly go where no bat has gone before!
...one giant leap for bat kind.
Bye and thanks for all the insects?
The Long Now Foundation
Ostensibly, yes. Emacs and Lisp. In reality, God http://xkcd.com/224/
His friends could have pinged the expression on his face...
He's not dead. He's just pining for the caves of the Yucatan.
Boundry Layer Theory - at least it was theory when I was in grad school 20 years ago - says that the boundary layer is about 1% of 1 mm in distance on smooth surfaces.
The bat was probably stuck to the ice until:
a) the ice broke off
b) the hair/legs stuck to the shuttle ripped off
Basically, when the shuttle goes 100+ mph after liftoff, that bat was gone and cooked in the exhaust plum. I barely recall the flight profile, but that's about 10 seconds if 1G acceleration. Being conservative, its going over 100mph in 10 seconds as the acceleration builds. http://www.cdli.ca/CITE/sts_ascent.htm
In 60 seconds, its going nearly 1,000 mph. Let's see **any** car do that. I don't think the F-22 Raptor can do that either.
the external fuel tank is lined with orange shag carpet.
"bats can't survive in space"
Doesn't matter he just needs to have his carcass up there to become the first space-bat. Then in the future they can revive him like Frank Poole in Arthur C Clarke's '3001: The Final Odyssey'.
These are the same clueless bastards that reported the Columbia was going 18 times the speed of light during its fatal re-entry a few years back, so frankly it doesn't surprise me.
Please stand clear of the doors, por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas
Could God create an editor that sucks so badly even He couldn't use it?
(joke purposefully phrased to be editor-agnostic)
I, for one, welcome our new bloodsucking bat overlords!
Oh, Fry, I love how you can *REMEMBER TWO THINGS*
asshole.
One two three, spread out the cape
One two three, twirl round the floor
One two three, left foot you swing
One two three, then start to sing
One two three, loud as you please
One two three, counting with ease
One two three, doing the batty bat!
Batty batty bat batty batty bat batty batty bat
One two three count!
Batty batty bat batty batty bat batty batty bat
Dance with me doing the batty bat!
Ah ah ah!
And 3million years from now, alien archaeologist discovers a frozen corpse of the bravest little astronaut of planet Earth. The bat far away from his home. At least they can have some interesting arguments on how it ended up in there.
To answer your question, No.
Microsoft beat god to it in 2007..
Slashdot - I went there to fix their grammar that they're so bad at.
Pointing out that it's dead, well, it's a bit obvious.
Wrong place at the wrong time, and bam, you're both dead and you make international headlines.
If each mistake being made is a new one, then progress is being made.
Name it Ash.
beautiful plumage...
"I only speak the truth"
Karma: null(Mostly affected by an unassigned variable)
no no no... it's a BIHANO...
Bat
Initiated
High Altitude
NO
Opening
I will not give in to the terrorists. I will not become fearful.
http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/3738/spacebatforever.jpg
Godspeed, Spacebat.
Godspeed.
Anyone have any idea what it was like for the bat before it likely lost its hold and fell into the flaming rockets? If it got near or above the speed of sound, what would the bat be thinking? Do they just perceive a wall or does the bat see nothing at all? Just wondering what was going through its mind.
Am I the only one thinking that this would be a great concept for a Meatloaf Records cover art?
. .
Yes, and it's called Teco.
--Bud
...Top Secret was funny, too...but he sucked as Batman...
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
as long as its not something against the quran, his life isnt in danger
They tell you this bat just sorta showed up, but really it was planned all along. The bat is a planned counter-measure: he's going after that spider they lost last year! NASA needs to take the spider out before it learns how to work the bag of tools it stole.
i speak for myself and those who like what i say.
Millions of years from now we'll come across a planet whose primary life form is a descendant of a bat. A planet of batmen.
Maybe god uses emacs in
Repton.
They say that only an experienced wizard can do the tengu shuffle.
"Bat outta hell".... and into heaven now!
I think they took it literally when NASA said they would "Go to bat" for the space program
It's the media. They don't know the tank separates and burns up on reentry.
Look behind you...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ibq2IwznCgc
Error: PANTS NOT FOUND. Press <F1> to continue.
Bat Attack... But, then that would be...
Fowl play. But, fi the bat could be smelled, there might be some foul play in play...
Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
He's a bat outta hell.
He should be called Meatloaf.
Well, We all know he's now a firebat
I noticed that it will get to 17500 miles per hour. This isn't escape velocity (25053 miles per hour). Still, for a little bat to be able to hang onto that, the little critter (even postumously) deserves credit for going out into space. I suspect though that he would either be cooked, or dead due to extreme speed/pressure/heat/turbulence/shock. It brings another issue: we know very well how many men have died on the pad. How many creatures have died on the pad, how many have died due to strikes with launching rockets, and what precautions are in place to avoid collisions? I ask not just because I don't want to see birds die, but also because bird strikes can be dangerous, even catastrophic.
Holy shit, I'm a bat!
It's the sequel to 'Snakes on a Plane' it's 'Bats on a Shuttle'.
Assuming (probably incorrectly) that this is one of those bats that relies on sonar for navigation - what would the world look like when you're travelling at 25 times the speed of sound?
Can someone please describe this using the analogy of light-based vision, with which I'm more familiar?
Thanks!
Well, this bat has proven that he ain't no Wall-E.
Gone to join the sapient zats which soar through airless space, slanting their metal wings to winds of light. May Issek bless you, Fritz Leiber
Actually you forgot the most obvious: he's toast.
Given there are so many of them on Wikipedia, I'd have to say the answer is "yes".
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
It's clearly gone after the missing spider!
I'm surprised no one (i've noticed) has suggested "Meatloaf" as a moniker for the diminutive rocketeer. Perhaps the readership is too young to remember "Bat out of Hell"; circa 1977. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat_Out_of_Hell Could Meat be contemplating "Bat out of Hell IV"?
So, the shuttle has 30 some odd million horsepower... but perhaps the question we should be asking: how much batpower does it have? One, apparently.
"I'm Batman, and I can breathe in space."
FOOLS! I will destroy you ALL!
... to his castle on the moon!
This bat is no more! He has ceased to be! He's expired and gone to meet his maker! He's a stiff! Bereft of life, he rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed him to the perch he'd be pushing up the daisies! His metabolic processes are now history! He's off the twig! He's kicked the bucket, he's shuffled off his mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleeding choir invisible!! THIS IS AN EX-BAT!!
So... the bat bit the dust? Serves him right for trying to bite the astronauts!
Microsoft beat god to it in 2007..
More like 1981. Ever use edlin?
You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
That's because there are no finer details to follow.
Neon Genesis Evangoolie goolie goolie goolie wotcher ging gang goo ging gan goo doesn't have any.
Nice woggle you have there, Squire. It'd be a shame if it got... whittled!
Assuming these bats squeak mostly in the ultrasonic, it might have joined the choir inaudible.