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Did Bat Hitch a Ride To Space On Discovery?

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the that'll-be-$10M-please dept.

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."

35 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 A.+B3ttik · · Score: 5, Funny

      I would have gone with Lamarr.

    4. Re:119V-0080 by amn108 · · Score: 4, Funny

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

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

      Then you have an appropriate sig!

    6. 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/
    7. Re:119V-0080 by ControversialMatt · · Score: 5, Funny

      i can haz spaceflight?

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

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

    9. 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.
    10. 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.....

    11. 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/
  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?
  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. 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.

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

    Are they sure it's not a mynock?

  9. 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.
  10. 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.
  11. 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
  12. 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!
  13. 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!
  14. 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!!

  15. 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.
  16. 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.
  17. 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.

  18. 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.
  19. 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.
  20. 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)