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Space Bat, we hardly knew ye by *beavotron:iconbeavotron:

Categories Digital Art > Vector > Animals

©2009 *beavotron
:iconbeavotron:

Artist's Comments

On a cool spring eve March 15th, 2009 a bat, crippled and wistful, clung to the Space Shuttle Discovery as it was thrust toward the great beyond. Goodbye and godspeed, my magnificent Space-bat.

At some point during the countdown, Space-bat—a Free-Tailed Chiroptera—was spotted latched to the foam of the external fuel tank, occasionally moving but never letting go. Wildlife experts deduced that he had injured his wing and shoulder, leaving him with little chance of survival.

He remained on the tank until launch. NASA's cold report?

"The animal likely perished quickly during Discovery's climb into orbit."

But here's how it should have read:
"Bereft of his ability to fly and with nowhere to go, a courageous bat climbed aboard our Discovery with stars in his weak little eyes. The launch commenced, and Spacebat trembled as his frail mammalian body was gently pushed skyward. For the last time, he felt the primal joy of flight; for the first, the indescribable feeling of ascending toward his dream—a place far away from piercing screeches and crowded caves, stretching forever into fathomless blackness."

Whether he was consumed in the exhaust flames or frozen solid in the stratosphere is of no concern. We know that Space-bat died, but his dream will live on in all of us.

awesome editorial snippet provided by qmarkman
you can read NASA's report on the little guy here:
[link]

Comments


love 2 2 joy 0 0 wow 0 0 mad 0 0 sad 1 1 fear 0 0 neutral 0 0
:iconaerozones:
~aerozones Mar 21, 2009, 4:04:30 AM
i read this in the paper the other day. lol! that picture and your report is dead set funny.
:iconthedreamwolf:
=thedreamwolf Mar 21, 2009, 4:05:09 AM
I'll always love you, space bat. :cry:

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:iconvikung-fu:
~vikung-fu Mar 21, 2009, 4:28:58 AM
awwww

--
"I haven't been the same since my teenage lobotomy"
:iconk1sch:
~k1sch Mar 21, 2009, 4:35:58 AM
That sounds so sad...
But your sweet illustration makes up for it. Rest in peace, little space bat :)
I love his happy smile!
:iconajust:
~AJUST Mar 21, 2009, 4:51:17 AM
That's so sad :(

--
Souls are for eating. Mmmm...
:iconangelac:
~angelac Mar 21, 2009, 5:33:41 AM
Beautiful and inspiring little story, and I love your illustration of it.

--
website [link] etsy shop [link]
:iconoddlead:
~oddlead Mar 21, 2009, 5:37:50 AM
Awww, this is the cutest picture to ever make me cry.

--
"you clearly got your doctorate in cuteology from princeton." ~imotic
"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened." - Dr. Seuss
:iconstuffedfox:
~StuffedFox Mar 21, 2009, 5:43:45 AM
you made me cry, if just a little...
:iconzhani:
~Zhani Mar 21, 2009, 6:12:32 AM
that's so sweet. :aww:

Lovely text. :)
:iconbeavotron:
*beavotron Mar 21, 2009, 6:22:00 AM
:hug:

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Alexandria Neonakis
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