Bye Bye, Birdies

Authors

Cheryl L. Mansfield, NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center

Date of this Version

June 2006

Comments

Published by NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center. Permission to use. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/behindscenes/avian_radar.html.

Abstract

Birds come with the territory at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, which usually doesn't mind when any of the nearby Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge's 310 species of birds swoop through for a visit.

But one particular type of bird is causing concern: vultures. That's why NASA plans to test special radar to track any vultures around Launch Pad 39B during the countdown to liftoff of Space Shuttle Discovery on mission STS-121.