18 Mar 2009, 0014 hrs IST, AGENCIES


The Discovery space shuttle which had a successful launch on Monday had an unlikely stowaway - a fruit bat, said scientists. The animal was found hiding next to an external fuel tank. Although its fate is unknown, scientists believe it probably perished.

The launch director Mike Leinbach told a a post-launch news conference: “We’re characterizing him as unexpected debris and he’s probably still unexpected debris somewhere.” The shuttle was due to arrive at the orbital outpost on Tuesday for an eight-day stay. The launch had been delayed five times, with the latest hitch being a gas leak last week.

It is not the first time a bat has attempted to hitch a ride into space. One was spotted on the Endeavour shuttle but it flew away before take-off in 1996. In 1995, a turkey vulture ran into a fuel tank during the launch. It did not cause any damage but Nasa has used radar to locate flocks of birds and fired canons to scare them off ever since.