Bird Poop in Space

It appears that bird droppings managed to survive the launch of the shuttle Discovery.

NASA's rocket scientists have a new appreciation for the out-of-this-world power of bird droppings. The orbiting space shuttle Discovery sported some whitish splotches on its black right wing edge that NASA officials said appeared to be bird droppings.

Shuttle lead flight director Tony Ceccacci said he saw the same splotches on the identical part of the shuttle about three weeks ago when Discovery was on the launch pad and laughed when pictures beamed back from space Wednesday showed they were still there.

That means these bird droppings withstood regular Florida thunderstorms, a mighty Fourth of July launch during which 300,000 gallons of water is sprayed at the shuttle's main engines, and a burst upward through Earth's atmosphere. During that launch Discovery went from zero to 17,500 mph in just under 9 minutes.

Shuttle Hits Bird

N. Wayne Hale, the deputy manager of the shuttle program after fielding questions about the Shuttle was asked about the fate of the bird that was struck by the shuttle's external tank during liftoff.

``We've never see a bird strike in the program before,'' Hale said.

The nose cone of the orange external tank struck the large bird just 2.5 seconds after launch. Luckily, Mr. Hale said, the bird slid off of the side of the tank opposite the shuttle and posed no hazard to the Discovery. He said that the incident was especially surprising because the shuttle program had always assumed that the roar of launching would scare birds away, but "this guy didn't clear the area."

Mr. Hale added that some NASA employees wondered what kind of bird it was and have searched for the remnants on the launch pad, but have found nothing. In the launching pictures, he said, "We pretty clearly see him going into the plume - and I don't know if we'll ever know." And he grimaced.

NASA also is studying whether anything can be done to prevent collisions with wildlife.(Reuters/New York Times)

What kind of bird was it? The New Scientist says it may have been an osprey or a turkey buzzard.

Secret Service Keeps Eye On Duck

The Secret Service, which has the job of guarding the president and other dignitaries, now has a new temporary duty -- protecting a mother duck and her nine eggs.

The duck, a brown mallard with white markings, has had several names suggested by Treasury Department people, including "Quacks Reform," "T-Bill," and "Duck Cheney." It has built a nest in a mulch pile right at the main entrance to the Treasury Department on Pennsylvania Avenue.

The Secret Service's uniformed division, which provides protection for the White House and Treasury building, has set up metal guard rails to protect the nest, which has attracted the notice of tourists on their way to see the White House. (CNN/AP Story)

It Is Not All Chinese To Them

When China imported a U.S.-made scream machine to scare away the birds at Beijing airport --the calls were lost in translation.

The bird-dispersing equipment had recorded the screams of American birds or the sounds of the birds' natural enemies and "local birds did not understand the foreign language," reported the Beijing Evening News.

Chinese experts are now "translating" American caws into those of their Chinese counterparts.

More from Reuters.