NASA had its eyes on a free tail bat that was clinging to the external fuel tank of the Space Shuttle Discovery before launch on Sunday at Cape Canaveral. It refused to let go as the Shuttle rocketed towards orbit:
"NASA hoped the bat would fly away before the spacecraft's Sunday evening liftoff, but photos from the launch now show the bat holding on for dear life throughout the fiery ride. 'He did change the direction he was pointing from time to time throughout countdown but ultimately never flew away,' states a NASA memo obtained by SPACE.com. '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.'Officials at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., where Discovery launched from a seaside pad, said the bat's outlook after launch appears grim."
The bat's position on the orbiter, AFTER THE JUMP…
