I know we are still working on our frog reader base, but for those of you out there, next time you see a giant metal tube with the letters “NASA” on the side, maybe it would be best to go the other way.
Last week, just as a little frog was brushing its teeth and getting ready for bed, it was catapulted into the air and caught on camera splayed out and back lit in front of the cloud coming from the bottom of LADEE, NASA’s most recent moon-bound launch.
iO9’s article “This frog got WAY too close to last week’s NASA rocket launch” cited an interview Jeremy Eggers did with Universe Today.
“The launch pad at the Wallops/Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport has a “pool” for the high-volume water deluge system that activates during launches to protect the pad from damage and for noise suppression, and likely there was a (formerly) damp, cool place that was a nice spot for a frog to hang out.”
Although this frog died a fairly tragic death, he or she did it in the spotlight. Just think, it is now possible that more people know about this frog than know the names of the astronauts on that space shuttle. Whatever that says about media and people today, it is a dramatic yet humorous image, and new crowds are now talking about the mission to the moon. Let’s all hope that there is a subsequent image of the shuttle returning safely with possibly a pigeon or a grasshopper next to it this time.