What a Way to Go

I went to the official NASA site today wondering if I would see any pictures of the final solar panel module hoisted out of Discovery's cargo bay into space. Instead, I happened to see a small article about a bat spotted on the external fuel tank during the countdown that apparently stayed in place until the rockets had ignited. When that happens, even "dropping off" seems pretty final... I can, of course, imagine this could raise a certain amount of controversy (however manufactured), and many possible responses seem more than a little glib. Still, it does provoke thought.