[Res]

Full story.

"Bereft of his ability to fly and with nowhere to go, a courageous bat climbed aboard our Discovery with stars in his weak little eyes. The launch commenced, and Spacebat trembled as his frail mammalian body was gently pushed skyward. For the last time, he felt the primal joy of flight; for the first, the indescribable feeling of ascending toward his dream—a place far away from piercing screeches and crowded caves, stretching forever into fathomless blackness.

Whether he was consumed in the exhaust flames or frozen solid in the stratosphere is of no concern. We know that Spacebat died, but his dream will live on in all of us."

Spacebat. A hero that the modern world surely needs. A little Free-Tailed Chiroptera, poor in eyesight but rich in hope. He rode off into the sunset in the most poetic way imaginable, having dreamed of becoming the first bat in space. He was a martyr for our dreams, for our aspirations. We could each learn something from this contemporary hero-- we may don steadfast courage against insurmountable odds, the determination to aim high, to hunger for something more. Spacebat taught us something about ourselves-- how within each of us lies dormant the ancient desire to break free of our gravitational chains and push beyond that great black cosmos for which we have yearned since the dawn of time.

[MA-53]

/Salute