Posted 3/18/2009 05:16:00 PM by Douglas

This made me sad, yet laugh at the same time. America's first Bat-ronaut. [Although, probably not. Just the first one on camera.]

A small bat that was spotted blasting off with the space shuttle Sunday and clinging to the back side of Discovery's external fuel tank apparently held on throughout the launch.

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."

But he's OK, right?

"Based on images and video, a wildlife expert who provides support to the center said the small creature was a free tail bat that likely had a broken left wing and some problem with its right shoulder or wrist," NASA officials said Tuesday. "The animal likely perished quickly during Discovery's climb into orbit."

"Perished quickly" is NASA-speak for being vaporized by a million pounds of rocket propellant. But here's to you, baty. Dare to dream!

Houston, Discovery. The rabies has landed.

Of course, no one really weeps for the buzzards, either.