Shuttle Discovery blasts:Today Space shuttle Discovery launched just before midnight Friday on a mission to the international space station. The animal was last seen clinging on the foam of the external tank of the space shuttle moments before the Discovery launched, officials said. The crew of seven astronauts includes one from Mexico and another from Sweden. One of those seven, Nicole Stott, will remain on the station as a flight engineer, while astronaut Timothy Kopra is to return home aboard the shuttle.
Shuttle Discovery safely completed a six-hour spacewalk outside the International Space Station on Thursday, installing a set of solar panels that will help the station handle twice as many crew members.
NASA officials had hoped the bat would fly away on its own, but admitted the bat probably died quickly during Discovery's climb into orbit. Also on board: The Leonardo logistics module, science experiments and the Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill (COLBERT). Nasa Officials noticed the bat before shuttle's liftoff and brought in a wildlife expert to look at video images of it. The expert said it appeared to be a free-tailed bat that probably had a broken left wing and an injured right shoulder or wris. We're very proud of their work," said NASA spacewalk director Glenda Laws-Brown. "They were very efficient. I've watched several of these and this was a joy to watch.. The launch pads at the space center are near the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, so NASA has sirens to scare away animals that get near the shuttles.
Colbert won an online poll conducted by NASA to name the newest space station compartment, but Colbert and the space agency compromised to give the moniker to the treadmill. The new compartment was given the name Tranquility.
The crew also worked Thursday to make sure members of the space station stay physically fit -- repairing a treadmill and exercise bicycle that had broken down, Alibaruho said.
Discovery, with its seven-member crew, lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Sunday. The launch originally was scheduled for last Wednesday, but was delayed after engineers discovered a leak in a hydrogen gas vent line. It was unclear whether its stowaway was still clinging to the shuttle.
Today Space shuttle Discovery launched just before midnight Friday on a mission to the international space station. The animal was last seen clinging on the foam of the external tank of the space shuttle moments before the Discovery launched, officials said. The crew of seven astronauts includes one from Mexico and another from Sweden. One of those seven, Nicole Stott, will remain on the station as a flight engineer, while astronaut Timothy Kopra is to return home aboard the shuttle.
Shuttle Discovery safely completed a six-hour spacewalk outside the International Space Station on Thursday, installing a set of solar panels that will help the station handle twice as many crew members.
NASA officials had hoped the bat would fly away on its own, but admitted the bat probably died quickly during Discovery's climb into orbit. Also on board: The Leonardo logistics module, science experiments and the Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill (COLBERT). Nasa Officials noticed the bat before shuttle's liftoff and brought in a wildlife expert to look at video images of it. The expert said it appeared to be a free-tailed bat that probably had a broken left wing and an injured right shoulder or wris. We're very proud of their work," said NASA spacewalk director Glenda Laws-Brown. "They were very efficient. I've watched several of these and this was a joy to watch.. The launch pads at the space center are near the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, so NASA has sirens to scare away animals that get near the shuttles.
Colbert won an online poll conducted by NASA to name the newest space station compartment, but Colbert and the space agency compromised to give the moniker to the treadmill. The new compartment was given the name Tranquility.
The crew also worked Thursday to make sure members of the space station stay physically fit -- repairing a treadmill and exercise bicycle that had broken down, Alibaruho said.
Discovery, with its seven-member crew, lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Sunday. The launch originally was scheduled for last Wednesday, but was delayed after engineers discovered a leak in a hydrogen gas vent line. It was unclear whether its stowaway was still clinging to the shuttle.