KENNEDY SPACE CENTER , Florida ( CNN ) -- A bat that apparently had trouble flying instead tried to hitch a ride on the space shuttle Discovery , NASA officials said . The free tail bat was last seen clinging to the space shuttle Discovery 's external fuel tank just before launch . The animal was last seen clinging on the foam of the external tank of the space shuttle moments before the Discovery launched , officials said . NASA officials had hoped the bat would fly away on its own , but admitted the bat probably died quickly during Discovery 's climb into orbit . Discovery 's seven-member crew , which lifted off from Kennedy Space Center on Sunday , is on a 14-day mission to deliver supplies needed to expand the International Space Station . NASA officials noticed the bat before shuttle 's liftoff and brought in a wildlife expert to look at video images of it . The expert said it appeared to be a free-tailed bat that probably had a broken left wing and an injured right shoulder or wrist . The launch pads at the space center are near the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge , so NASA has sirens to scare away animals that get near the shuttles . The bat is n't the first to try hitching a ride into space . NASA officials said they noticed one of the creatures on a tank of a shuttle in 1998 . That bat flew away as the shuttle 's massive engines ignited . The crew of the Discovery safely docked at the International Space Station on Tuesday . It was unclear whether its stowaway was still clinging to the shuttle .
NASA : Bat was last seen clinging on space shuttle Discovery before launch . Wildlife expert says bat appeared to have broken wing or injured shoulder . Comment: