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Post by Lady Lasa on Mar 20, 2009 7:31:54 GMT -5
edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/space/03/18/bat.shuttle/KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Florida (CNN) -- A bat that apparently had trouble flying instead tried to hitch a ride on the space shuttle Discovery, NASA officials said. The free tail bat was last seen clinging to the space shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank just before launch. The free tail bat was last seen clinging to the space shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank just before launch. The animal was last seen clinging on the foam of the external tank of the space shuttle moments before the Discovery launched, officials said. 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. Discovery's seven-member crew, which lifted off from Kennedy Space Center on Sunday, is on a 14-day mission to deliver supplies needed to expand the International Space Station. 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 wrist. 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. The bat isn't the first to try hitching a ride into space. NASA officials said they noticed one of the creatures on a tank of a shuttle in 1998. That bat flew away as the shuttle's massive engines ignited. The crew of the Discovery safely docked at the International Space Station on Tuesday. It was unclear whether its stowaway was still clinging to the shuttle.
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Post by perhapsormaybe on Mar 20, 2009 10:31:39 GMT -5
Ooh...poor bat...
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Post by Lady Lasa on Mar 20, 2009 10:39:37 GMT -5
RIP Spacebat!
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Post by perhapsormaybe on Mar 20, 2009 11:36:32 GMT -5
Indeed. May the world know your bravery. You prince among flying mammals, you king of spacetravelers.
....this is why I'm not allowed to give eulogies.
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Post by Lady Lasa on Mar 20, 2009 12:54:20 GMT -5
To boldly go where no bat has gone before...
Apparently, not going according to plan.
Yeah, I'm not allowed to either.
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Post by perhapsormaybe on Mar 20, 2009 13:15:34 GMT -5
All right, we'll leave it to the professionals then.
....Now I want to draw a bat with a space helmet on...
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Post by Lady Lasa on Mar 20, 2009 13:36:07 GMT -5
Do it!
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Post by perhapsormaybe on Mar 20, 2009 13:39:25 GMT -5
I might...I'm not too good at animals, though.
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Post by Lady Lasa on Mar 20, 2009 13:44:41 GMT -5
I might photoshop one tonight if I have time.
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Post by perhapsormaybe on Mar 20, 2009 13:50:14 GMT -5
*laughs* Coolio.
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Post by Lady Lasa on Mar 21, 2009 13:38:00 GMT -5
U.S. Navy detains, releases six suspected pirates
(CNN) -- U.S. naval forces hunting pirates off Somalia detained six people this week who appeared to be pursuing a commercial shipping vessel, but soon released them because of a lack of evidence.
A Yemeni Coast Guard boat patrols the Gulf of Aden for pirates who threaten shipping.
The Navy said on Saturday the six matched the description of suspected pirates aboard a skiff in the area. The naval crew saw the men throwing objects overboard before they picked up the suspects.
Investigators didn't say what was thrown overboard but said the evidence was not sufficient "to hold the suspects for prosecution."
The detentions reflect the aggressive U.S.-led fight against piracy. The United States is spearheading an international naval task force in the waters off Somalia that launched in February after a rash of attacks.
Participating ships are patrolling more than a million square miles of water, an area about four times the size of Texas, Navy officials have said.
The Navy said it arrested the six on Friday after responding to a distress call from the Philippines-flagged MV Bison Express in the Gulf of Aden, between Yemen and Somalia. The ship, a livestock carrier, reported a small skiff containing six heavily armed pirates was pursuing it.
The guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg arrived and found a skiff matching the description. A Seahawk helicopter flew from the Gettysburg over the skiff and reported seeing objects being thrown overboard, the Navy said.
A team from the Gettysburg boarded the skiff, along with members of the U.S. Coast Guard Legal Detachment and detained the six suspected pirates. The U.S. officials transferred the suspects onto the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer, the flagship for the international anti-piracy task force, the Navy said, before releasing them.
The attack on the Bison Express was the second one Friday on commercial shipping vessels in the Gulf of Aden, the Navy said. In the first incident, pirates attacked the MV Sea Green, which managed to fend them off by firing flares as the men approached, the Navy said.
Yarr?
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Post by fierysue on Mar 22, 2009 2:17:30 GMT -5
This article had me  . How can people do such things to each other? - Depleted uranium found in Gaza victims
Medics tell Press TV they have found traces of depleted uranium in some Gaza residents wounded in Israel's ground offensive on the strip. Norwegian medics told Press TV correspondent Akram al-Sattari that some of the victims who have been wounded since Israel began its attacks on the Gaza Strip on December 27 have traces of depleted uranium in their bodies. The report comes after Israeli tanks and troops swept across the border into Gaza on Saturday night, opening a ground operation after eight days of intensive attacks by Israeli air and naval forces on the impoverished region. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned on Sunday that the wide-ranging ground offensive in the Gaza Strip would be "full of surprises." A ground offensive in the densely-populated Gaza is expected to drastically increase the death toll of the civilian population. The latest assaults bring the number of Palestinians killed to over 488 with 2790 others wounded. The UN says that about 25 percent of the casualties were civilian deaths - including at least 34 children. According to Israeli army officials, at least 30 of its soldiers have been wounded since the start of the ground campaign. Amid global condemnation of the ongoing violence in the region, the UN Security Council failed to agree on a united approach to resolve the crisis. "Once again, the world is watching in dismay the dysfunctionality of the Security Council," UN General Assembly chief Miguel d'Escoto said Sunday. According to diplomatic sources, the US blocked a Security Council resolution, with US Deputy Ambassador Alejandro Wolff arguing that an official statement that criticizes both Israel and Hamas would not be helpful. The White House has so far declined to comment on whether an Israeli ground incursion into Gaza is a justified measure. - You can read the original article here at www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=80443§ionid=351020202 |
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. How can people do such things to each other?