Space shuttle Discovery took off from Florida yesterday at 7.43 pm, bound for the International Space Station.

“I’ve seen a lot of launches … and this was the most visually beautiful launch I’ve ever seen. It was just spectacular,” says launch director Mike Leinbach (AP).

That enthusiasm seems to be shared by this man:

Sadly though there was one casualty from the launch. AP reports that a fruit bat had stopped for a rest on the shuttle’s external tank for several hours before launch and “likely perished” (see also space.com’s: Bat Attempts to Stowaway on Space Shuttle).

A rather hearless Leinbach gained cheap laugh at the bat’s expense: “We’re characterizing him as unexpected debris and he’s probably still unexpected debris somewhere.”

Photo credit: NASA/Fletch Hildreth