Removing roadkill may save astronaut's lives, according to NASA. And no, even I couldn't make this one up.
The theory is that removing dead animals could cut down on the number of vultures looking for meals at the 140,000-acre center, part of which is a national wildlife refuge.
A vulture struck the fuel tank of space shuttle Discovery during last year's launch, but it didn't cause any major damage.
The headline of the story reads, "NASA: Removing Roadkill May Save Lives." I nodded, because in SoCal, drivers break when one rain droplet hits the windshield (no joke, this was my experience this morning). You can only imagine what roadkill does out here.
But, I was misled. We're not talking about saving your run-of-the-mill pedestrian life. We're talking about astronauts, here.
Now, they're not expecting drivers to stop and remove the remains themselves, are they? Because somehow I think that might pose far greater problems than just a few pesky vultures.
Um....Hellooooo! Why didn't you run this story by me first, Portia?!
Come on! It takes millions upon millions of dollars to train a single astronaut. And it only takes a second to throw that away....
A pedestrian, on the other hand...meh...They should become astronauts so NASA can come up with programs to help save their lives....
Posted by: Nasa Nerd at April 28, 2006 11:34 PM
