In its 30 years of history, the Space Shuttle experienced all kinds of situations, both fascinating and tragic. However, one of the strangest occurred in May 1995. Mission STS-70, whose objective was to carry a TDRS satellite, was all set to begin in the first days of June, but had to be delayed due to the extensive damage a local woodpecker caused to the external tank…
STS-70 was not just another mission for the Space Shuttle Discovery. Besides being the twenty-first flight on its list and the last to place a TDRS satellite in orbit, STS-70 symbolized the hundredth manned space mission in all of American history. In early May 1995, NASA had confirmed that STS-70 would launch in the second week of June (June 8, to be more precise). The shuttle's "complete package" was moved to Pad 39B on May 11, and remained there for three weeks… until engineers received an alert of an "incident" on the external tank…
Space Shuttle vs. Woodpeckers
The engineers discovered 71 "excavations", along with beak and claw marks all over the insulating foam. The culprit? A northern flicker, Colaptes auratus. The chosen launch time coincided with mating season, and this enthusiastic builder saw the Discovery's external tank as an ideal place for his work.
Available information indicates that the shuttle ended up receiving 205 holes of various sizes in the insulating material. Nests usually have a depth of 20 to 25 centimeters, but the thickness of the foam does not exceed 8 centimeters. When hitting metal, this gentleman simply moved to try again.
The technicians used air horns and fake owls to drive the birds away from the tank, and the employees working there on the weekend even created a special team, "Pecker Patrol". However, the damage was extensive. All attempts to cover the holes on the pad failed, and a week later it was concluded to move the shuttle to the VAB (Vehicle Assembly Building) for a complete repair.
In the end, a combination of horns, plastic owls, "predator eyes" on balloons, and hawk sounds over loudspeakers was needed to drive away the woodpeckers. STS-70 reached space on July 13 without incident, but had to yield the title of "100th American manned space flight" to Space Shuttle Atlantis in STS-71.
(Images from NASA)
Sources: AmericaSpace, Herb Baker via Medium
