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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."

71 of 422 comments (clear)

  1. 119V-0080 by Lord+Grey · · Score: 5, Funny
    From space.com's article:

    "The bat eventually became 'Interim Problem Report 119V-0080' after the [Final Inspection Team] finished their walkdown," the memo said. "Systems Engineering and Integration performed a debris analysis on him and ultimately a Launch Commit Criteria waiver to ICE-01 was written to accept the stowaway."

    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.

    --
    // Beyond Here Lie Dragons
    1. Re:119V-0080 by The+Grassy+Knoll · · Score: 5, Funny

      >There are cars that accelerate faster than that. Of course, I suppose they don't weigh 4.5 million pounds.....

      And they're not accelerating upwards (I hope)

      --
      They will never know the simple pleasure of a monkey knife fight
    2. Re:119V-0080 by TheCreeep · · Score: 5, Funny

      I say stick a caption on him and call him the lolbat.

    3. Re:119V-0080 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      that's what he gets for taking that double dare to lick the liquid nitrogen tank on that rocket

    4. Re:119V-0080 by A.+B3ttik · · Score: 5, Funny

      I would have gone with Lamarr.

    5. Re:119V-0080 by nih · · Score: 1, Funny

      I'm Brian!

      --
      I'm a rabbit startled by the headlights of life :(
    6. Re:119V-0080 by amn108 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Can't wait to hear about Life of Brian. Before and after launch.

    7. Re:119V-0080 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Then you have an appropriate sig!

    8. Re:119V-0080 by L4t3r4lu5 · · Score: 4, Funny

      i r on ur rokkitz, awaying ur stow!

      --
      Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
    9. Re:119V-0080 by ControversialMatt · · Score: 5, Funny

      i can haz spaceflight?

    10. Re:119V-0080 by EatHam · · Score: 4, Funny

      I would've gone with Eric. Eric the fruit-bat.

    11. Re:119V-0080 by bplipschitz · · Score: 2, Funny

      Eric the half-a-bat.

    12. Re:119V-0080 by NotBornYesterday · · Score: 5, Funny

      "Hey, have you seen Brian lately?"

      "No, man, I haven't seen him since last night when he hooked up with that really huuuge white chick. why?"

      "Dude, you should have seen it. He was goin' at it with her right out in the open, and all of a sudden she started shaking and smoking. I heard him scream 'YYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWW!', there was a huge flash, she flew away, and that was that last I ever heard from him."

      --
      I prefer rogues to imbeciles because they sometimes take a rest.
    13. Re:119V-0080 by ObsessiveMathsFreak · · Score: 3, Funny

      He's not an astro-bat! He's a very naughty boy!

      --
      May the Maths Be with you!
    14. Re:119V-0080 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      I would have gone with "dead"

    15. Re:119V-0080 by interested+pyro · · Score: 5, Funny

      And they're not accelerating upwards (I hope)

      some of those crazy cars go at 9.8ft/s^2 (+ or - a little for air resistance) as for weighing 4.6 million tons, there is a car (vehicle) that goes .5 mph and weighs a lot. Its the thing that carries the shuttle to the launch pad.....

    16. Re:119V-0080 by mrdoogee · · Score: 2, Funny

      "Going to space, BRB"

    17. Re:119V-0080 by krewemaynard · · Score: 2, Funny

      i can haz spaceflight?

      Yes, u can haz.

      --
      I saw it on Slashdot, it must be true!
    18. Re:119V-0080 by dkleinsc · · Score: 4, Funny

      We all know that if they had put it to a vote it would have been named "Colbert".

      --
      I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
    19. Re:119V-0080 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Your wish is our (edited) command...
      lolbat

    20. Re:119V-0080 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      And I'm sure you meant 9.8 m/s^2
       
      Using SI units doesn't automatically make you right.

    21. Re:119V-0080 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      You worked at NASA on the Mars Orbiter project, didn't you?

    22. Re:119V-0080 by Wolfrider · · Score: 2, Funny

      " Hey hav u seen Brian around? "

      " Naw, last I saw him he was taking off like a bat outta Hell... "

      --
      .
      == WolfriderV6 == I'm willing to admit that *I just might* be wrong... Are you??
    23. Re:119V-0080 by profplump · · Score: 2, Funny

      You fail SI units. ms is milliseconds, not meters * seconds.

      / Should have checked one more time apparently

  2. did we run out of targets ? by polar+red · · Score: 5, Funny

    >When those photos were blown up
    poor photo.

    --
    Yes, I'm left. You have a problem with that?
    1. Re:did we run out of targets ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      > poor photo. Poor pun.

    2. Re:did we run out of targets ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Me too, so you're outnumbered, AC #27240191.

    3. Re:did we run out of targets ? by commodore64_love · · Score: 2, Funny

      >>>>>Made me smile.

      >>Me too...

      When two anonymous cowards talk to one another in the middle of the slashdot forest, does anybody hear them?

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
  3. Hollywood Movie Incoming! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Bats on a Shuttle?

    1. Re:Hollywood Movie Incoming! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      I've had it with these motherfuckin' bats on this motherfuckin' shuttle!

  4. Spacebat? nah.. by new_breed · · Score: 4, Funny

    Spacebatman, now that would be news!

  5. I can hear it now... by KudyardRipling · · Score: 5, Funny

    Where are the animal rights crowd? PETA should have a field-day with this.

    --
    Submission as evidence constitutes plaintiff and/or prosecutorial misconduct.
    1. Re:I can hear it now... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Can we launch them into space, too?

  6. I'm batman by hypergreatthing · · Score: 4, Funny

    Your answer: Val Kilmer sucks. Your wager: George Clooney sucks.

  7. Pesky hitchiker by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Wetbat !!!

  8. Name for the bat (Re:119V-0080) by the+cleaner · · Score: 2, Funny

    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.
    1. Re:Name for the bat (Re:119V-0080) by whopub · · Score: 2, Funny

      25,000 mph windspeed! That bat must've lost all its feathers by the time he got in space!

    2. Re:Name for the bat (Re:119V-0080) by Nefarious+Wheel · · Score: 2, Funny

      Last time I checked, small flying animals with feathers were called birds.

      Bats are mammals and have fur.

      Never have I ever encountered a more opportune moment to cry "Whoosh"...

      --
      Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear
  9. It's a conspiracy by shellster_dude · · Score: 2, Funny

    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]

  10. yeah by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Batassss

  11. Not quite by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    30 feet off the pad the engines gave out and the bat carried them into orbit.

    Heroic fucker.

  12. Mynock by mcvos · · Score: 5, Funny

    Are they sure it's not a mynock?

    1. Re:Mynock by dk90406 · · Score: 1, Funny

      I have heard from a reliable source (a photographer I know, named Peter) that the black creature really is a symbiote, that Spiderman placed on the rocket, in order to return it to space.

  13. Its final message to Earth by PriceIke · · Score: 5, Funny

    "So long and thanks for all the bugs."

    --
    It's not a lie. It's the truth with lossy compression.
  14. Re:Bats are _not_ rodents, dangit! by Farmer+Tim · · Score: 3, Funny

    And koalas aren't bears, cavys aren't pigs, cynomys aren't dogs, and that KFC you had last night wasn't chicken...

    --
    Blank until /. makes another boneheaded UI decision.
  15. mad as a hatter by jollyreaper · · Score: 5, Funny

    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
    1. Re:mad as a hatter by Em+Emalb · · Score: 5, Funny

      Little bat, clinging.
      I can has space travel please?
      HOLY SHIT, blast off!

      --
      Sent from your iPad.
  16. The difference in Quality. by geekmux · · Score: 5, Funny

    "...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.

    1. Re:The difference in Quality. by AioKits · · Score: 5, Funny

      I think Bigfoot is blurry, that's the problem. It's not the photographer's fault. Bigfoot is blurry, and that's extra scary to me. There's a large out of focus monster roaming the countryside. Look out, he's fuzzy, let's get out of here.

      Thanks to Mitch Hedberg (1968-2005)

      --
      "Quote me as saying I was mis-quoted." -Groucho Marx
  17. But why can't the heat tiles stay on? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    NASA should investigate adhering heat tiles with bat claws

  18. Re:It's just Wayne Enterprises doing some research by L4t3r4lu5 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yes, he has one of those devices which filters oxygen out of a vacuum on his utility belt.

    --
    Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
  19. Re:it's now a dead bat by acedotcom · · Score: 5, Funny

    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!
  20. Supermanbat by PinkyDead · · Score: 4, Funny

    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 :wq!
  21. Re:it's now a dead bat by XPulga · · Score: 5, Funny

    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!!

  22. Re:it's now a dead bat by Arthur+Grumbine · · Score: 5, Funny

    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.
  23. the next headline will read... by ichbineinneuben · · Score: 2, Funny

    Casket of Soil Mistakenly Sent to ISS in lieu of Supplies soon followed by... ISS Infested by Vampires

  24. Check out CNN's brilliant reporting on this event by dwillden · · Score: 4, Funny

    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.
  25. So Long... by QuackenDuck · · Score: 2, Funny

    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.

  26. Has Disney optioned his life story yet? by BHS_Turf · · Score: 4, Funny

    I smell a Disney Adventure movie. I hope they're in talked to his agent.

  27. If it was a girl bat by hey! · · Score: 4, Funny

    I would have named her "Misty".

    --
    Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
  28. Re:Somehow I doubt it by mdm42 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Playing too much Nethack, are we?

    --
    New mod option wanted: -1 DrunkenRambling
  29. Fear and Loathing in Space by jadin · · Score: 3, Funny

    We can't stop here! This is bat country!

  30. OT: Your sig by ConceptJunkie · · Score: 5, Funny

    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.
  31. Re:OT: Your sig by Splab · · Score: 2, Funny

    If the creator did use Emacs it would come with a decent text editor.

  32. Bats leaving by Narpak · · Score: 3, Funny

    Bye and thanks for all the insects?

  33. Re:OT: Your sig by civilizedINTENSITY · · Score: 2, Funny

    Ostensibly, yes. Emacs and Lisp. In reality, God http://xkcd.com/224/

  34. Re:OT: Your sig by An+ominous+Cow+art · · Score: 4, Funny

    Could God create an editor that sucks so badly even He couldn't use it?

    (joke purposefully phrased to be editor-agnostic)

  35. Re:it's now a dead bat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Oh, Fry, I love how you can *REMEMBER TWO THINGS*

  36. Re:OT: Your sig by Stratocastr · · Score: 2, Funny

    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.
  37. Re:From the bat's point of view? by OldBus · · Score: 2, Funny
    A quote from motorcyclist Barry Sheen seems an appropriate reply.

    After a serious crash he was asked what went through his mind at the time. He replied, "My arse."