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Bat Hitched Short Ride on Shuttle

Stowaway clung to Discovery's fuel tank through blastoff

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Mar 18, 2009 3:56 AM CDT

(Newser) – A small bat clung to the space shuttle Discovery's fuel tank throughout its launch Sunday, Space.com reports. Observation teams had hoped it would fly away before liftoff, but images reveal it stayed with the shuttle as it blasted off from Kennedy Space Center. NASA officials, who judged the bat was no threat to the shuttle's heat tiling, believe the stowaway must have perished shortly after blastoff.

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A fruit bat is seen clinging to one of the fuel tanks of the space shuttle Discovery. (NASA)

The space shuttle Discovery thunders off the launch pad Sunday at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

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Infrared imagery shows he was alive and not frozen like many would think. Liftoff imagery analysis confirmed that he held on until at least the vehicle cleared the tower before we lost sight of him.
- NASA memo on the bat

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Bat Hitched Short Ride on Shuttle