Washington, D.C. - NASA confirmed that the object the space shuttle Endeavour collided with during its launch was in fact Senator Al Franken' ego. "We were two minutes into the launch and I was just about to power up the vehicle when the ship shuttered," said flight commander to NASA flight engineers.
As the Endeavour crew looked out the cockpit window, they saw the ghostly image of Senator Al Franken's face take shape.
"It was formed out of vapor trails off the nose cone of the craft," said the shuttle commander. "And it seemed to be trying to mouth something to us. It's seemed to be saying, 'Hello! Hello! Is anyone in there? It's me, Senator Al Franken! Say, you guys wanna hear a joke?"
Unfortunately, the shuttle commander could not wait for the punch line and had to proceed with powering up the craft or risk endangering the ship and all onboard.
"We all thought we missed out on a good joke," said the shuttle commander. "But once Endeavour achieved low orbit, we were able to pick up the Sonia Sotomayer hearings."