Vultures sucking NASA dry? No we aren't talking about the US government either

Vultures are attacking NASA, and this time it isn't Budget
cuts from Congress....

FLORIDA- Nasa is trying to rid the Kennedy Space Centre of
vultures after the shuttle struck one of the large birds
during lift-off last year on the first flight after the
Columbia disaster.

The space centre has set up what it calls a "road kill
posse" to quickly clear as many carcasses as possible from
the 2400-hectare site, in hopes of encouraging the vulture
population to relocate by cutting off its food supply.

When shuttle Discovery lifted off the launch pad last July
on the first flight since the 2003 Columbia accident, it
hit a vulture during its climb to orbit.

Discovery did not suffer any damage that time, from the
vulture or from the chunks of foam that fell off its fuel
tank during launch.

But Nasa fears collisions with the large, carrion-eating
birds could damage shuttle heat shields, leaving the
spacecraft vulnerable to an accident like the one that
killed Columbia's seven astronauts.

"We need everyone's help," the agency wrote in newsletters
distributed to the space centre's work force last week.

"A crew will be sent to quickly remove the carrion before
the vultures are attracted to the free meal."

About 250kg of animal carcasses have been removed since
the programme began two weeks ago, the centre said.

In addition to picking up dead animals, the space centre
said it was employing other tactics to discourage the
vultures, including testing a sound system that would
broadcast loud noises and spraying a noxious chemical.