Get out your tissues, guys, and make sure no one can see your eyes. Before its retirement, as the space shuttle Discovery was preparing for launch, a bat landed on one of its engines and clung to it. Before you make cute quips about batstronauts, though, it turns out the little guy had a broken left wing, as well as some sort of problem with its right wrist or shoulder. This means it was most likely unable to fly away in time, and clung to Discovery’s engine on the shuttle’s way to orbit, and died.
A wildlife expert checked out the bat, and was the one who identified the bat as a free tail bat, as well as identified the likely issues with its appendages. The bat was likely not unconscious either, asNASA officials saw the bat fidgeting every now and then. Tissues ready? This means it was most likely aware of its unfortunate situation in some respect, inasmuch as bats are aware of things, at least.
The engine has an outer layer of foam, so by using its claws, the bat was able to steadily hold onto the shuttle.
In the above image, the red circle indicates where the bat was holding on. NASA officials said that the bat stayed at around 70 degrees throughout the launch. The little fella was first discovered by a team that searches the outside of the shuttle for ice buildup, and they — like you, no doubt — wished the bat would realize what was going on and fly away in time. Though this happened before the Discovery’s retirement, we still couldn’t be sadder about it. Rest in bat-peace
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