Bats, dancing on the night breeze against a celestial backdrop of galaxies and constellations, seem to be at home amongst the stars.

One bat became the master of its fate and made it so.

A thread dedicated to Space Bat. 1/

(Art: @NatGeo)
“WHAT IS HAPPENING?”

This may be your first thought when you look at this picture. It’s understandable. A little smear of brown in the middle of a rather large, burnt orange background doesn’t give you much to go off of in terms of context. 2/

(https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="📸" title="Kamera mit Blitz" aria-label="Emoji: Kamera mit Blitz"> @NASA)
This was also this bat’s first thought when the rocket it decided to rest its injured body on, with a broken wing and other possible wounds, began its launch sequence and barreled its way through the atmosphere and into orbit. 3/

(https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="📸" title="Kamera mit Blitz" aria-label="Emoji: Kamera mit Blitz"> @NASA; @collectSPACE)
This was also this bat’s first thought when the rocket it decided to rest its injured body on, with a broken wing and other possible wounds, began its launch sequence and barreled its way through the atmosphere and into orbit. 3/(https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable= @NASA; @collectSPACE)" title="This was also this bat’s first thought when the rocket it decided to rest its injured body on, with a broken wing and other possible wounds, began its launch sequence and barreled its way through the atmosphere and into orbit. 3/(https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="📸" title="Kamera mit Blitz" aria-label="Emoji: Kamera mit Blitz"> @NASA; @collectSPACE)">
This was also this bat’s first thought when the rocket it decided to rest its injured body on, with a broken wing and other possible wounds, began its launch sequence and barreled its way through the atmosphere and into orbit. 3/(https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable= @NASA; @collectSPACE)" title="This was also this bat’s first thought when the rocket it decided to rest its injured body on, with a broken wing and other possible wounds, began its launch sequence and barreled its way through the atmosphere and into orbit. 3/(https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="📸" title="Kamera mit Blitz" aria-label="Emoji: Kamera mit Blitz"> @NASA; @collectSPACE)">
The shuttle in question is none other than the Discovery, known for being the first to launch after the tragic circumstances of both the Challenger and the Columbia, toting @NASAHubble into space, and for carrying at least one bat into the great, starry beyond. 4/

(https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="📸" title="Kamera mit Blitz" aria-label="Emoji: Kamera mit Blitz"> @NASA)
Did the bat ever let go? No, no it did not.

Did it die? Well, perhaps physically, yes. But it forever lives on in our hearts and wandering the hallowed halls of social media as: Space Bat. 5/

(https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="📸" title="Kamera mit Blitz" aria-label="Emoji: Kamera mit Blitz"> Know Your Meme)
According to @NatGeo, “The story of Space Bat spawned a memorial blog...” (which is no longer operational so enjoy these fan-made images instead) 6/

(https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="📸" title="Kamera mit Blitz" aria-label="Emoji: Kamera mit Blitz">s: Andrew Klein Creative; Ossian Public Library; Scott Gallatin)
According to @NatGeo, “The story of Space Bat spawned a memorial blog...” (which is no longer operational so enjoy these fan-made images instead) 6/(https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable=s: Andrew Klein Creative; Ossian Public Library; Scott Gallatin)" title="According to @NatGeo, “The story of Space Bat spawned a memorial blog...” (which is no longer operational so enjoy these fan-made images instead) 6/(https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="📸" title="Kamera mit Blitz" aria-label="Emoji: Kamera mit Blitz">s: Andrew Klein Creative; Ossian Public Library; Scott Gallatin)">
According to @NatGeo, “The story of Space Bat spawned a memorial blog...” (which is no longer operational so enjoy these fan-made images instead) 6/(https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable=s: Andrew Klein Creative; Ossian Public Library; Scott Gallatin)" title="According to @NatGeo, “The story of Space Bat spawned a memorial blog...” (which is no longer operational so enjoy these fan-made images instead) 6/(https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="📸" title="Kamera mit Blitz" aria-label="Emoji: Kamera mit Blitz">s: Andrew Klein Creative; Ossian Public Library; Scott Gallatin)">
According to @NatGeo, “The story of Space Bat spawned a memorial blog...” (which is no longer operational so enjoy these fan-made images instead) 6/(https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable=s: Andrew Klein Creative; Ossian Public Library; Scott Gallatin)" title="According to @NatGeo, “The story of Space Bat spawned a memorial blog...” (which is no longer operational so enjoy these fan-made images instead) 6/(https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="📸" title="Kamera mit Blitz" aria-label="Emoji: Kamera mit Blitz">s: Andrew Klein Creative; Ossian Public Library; Scott Gallatin)">
“...several T-shirt designs...” 7/
“...a YouTube tribute, pop songs...” 8/

https://youtu.be/CbEXaSBRRfI ">https://youtu.be/CbEXaSBRR...
(this tribute will legitimately make you cry tears of joy-filled inspiration) 8.5/

https://youtu.be/3TX5HLmygD4 ">https://youtu.be/3TX5HLmyg...
“...and countless media articles.” 9/
Space Bat, a decade later, appears to have been positively prescient in getting TF off of earth while it had the chance. I now honor it with this thread and my heartfelt gratitude for its inspirational life. 10/

(https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="📸" title="Kamera mit Blitz" aria-label="Emoji: Kamera mit Blitz"> Know Your Meme)
Salute, Space Bat. https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🦇" title="Fledermaus" aria-label="Emoji: Fledermaus">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🚀" title="Rakete" aria-label="Emoji: Rakete">

11/11

(https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="📸" title="Kamera mit Blitz" aria-label="Emoji: Kamera mit Blitz"> Know Your Meme)
(My eternal gratitude to @alexevans91 for bringing this most glorious of chiropteran events to my attention)
(and thanks to @NASAExoplanets for following me otherwise I never would have talked about bats in space and therefore Alex never would have told me about Space Bat)
Listen y’all, don’t sleep on that song and the tribute video. No one’s liked them yet but they are quite possibly the best part of this thread!
You can follow @GiveBatsABreak.
Tip: mention @twtextapp on a Twitter thread with the keyword “unroll” to get a link to it.

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