For Astronauts' Sake, Pick Up Roadkill

Picking up roadkill may save astronauts' lives.

Managers at Florida's Kennedy Space Center – where the shuttle fleet launches – say they have started encouraging workers to notify road-and-grounds crews when they see dead animals on the site.

The theory is that removing dead animals could cut down on the number of vultures looking for meals at the 140,000 center, part of which is a national wildlife refuge.

CBS News correspondent Peter King reports, "Birds can be a huge problem for a space shuttle launch, especially at higher altitudes, when the shuttle is traveling faster, and thus, the impact velocity is higher and can cause real damage."

A vulture struck the fuel tank of space shuttle Discovery during last year's launch, but it didn't cause any major damage.

"The bottom line is that it could have hit something crucial," King reports. "And that would have been what we all refer to as a 'bad day.'"

Roadkill is a common sight at the center, which is home to more than 500 species of wildlife, including bald eagles, sea turtles, alligators and manatees. King, who has covered shuttle launches in Florida for 12 years, says it's not unusual to see exotic birds, turtles and alligators trying to cross the roads around the Kennedy Space Center.

"Unfortunately, they do not necessarily use crosswalks," he reports, "and because many roads on Kennedy Space Center property are not well lit, it's easy to hit something if you're not looking carefully."

NASA launch managers use cameras and radar to make sure there are no birds around the launch pad during shuttle launches.

The wildlife on Florida's east coast has caused other problems for the shuttle program. King reports that in 1995, a woodpecker settled in at launch pad 39B, and pecked away at the foam insulation near the top of the space shuttle's fuel tank. The little bird did enough damage - pecking some 200 holes in the foam - that NASA had to roll shuttle Discovery back to the Vehicle Assembly Building so engineers could repair the tank's outer skin, delaying the launch for about a month.

After that experience, NASA installed noisemakers and other devices designed to deter woodpeckers (and other birds) from making themselves too much at home on the launch pads.