The space shuttle Endeavour's STS-127 mission could use some
luck from its mascot.
NASA has tried twice to launch the shuttle but both times was
thwarted by a gas leak; Endeavour is now grounded until July 11 at the
earliest.
Perhaps that help will come from their new mascot: an
alligator.
The astronauts were riding in their silver Astrovan at
Florida's Kennedy Space Center June 2 when an alligator strolled along the road
in front of them.
The toothy creature took its time walking across the Saturn
Causeway – a main road that runs through NASA's Cape Canaveral base. After it
ambled past the spaceflyers, the alligator headed for the woods near the road.
The seven astronauts of the space shuttle Endeavour's STS-127
mission waited for the 'gator to pass before proceeding down the road to
Launch Pad 39A, where they were scheduled to rehearse liftoff procedures during
a terminal countdown demonstration test.
They were so taken by the alligator's appearance that the
crew agreed to adopt the creature as its mascot.
Alligators are common around the space center in drainage
canals and other waters. Sometimes they venture out to the roads in search of
new scenery or mates.
The center shares a boundary with the Merritt Island
Wildlife Nature Refuge, which is a habitat for more than 310 species of birds,
25 mammals, 117 fishes and 65 amphibians and reptiles.
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