Spacey Spiders Spin One Tangled Web

November 19, 2008

A pair of spiders launched aboard the space shuttle last week for an educational project have made themselves a home in space, though the webs are not up to Earthly standards.

“It looks like … more of a tangled disorganized-looking web than a 'Charlotte's Web' kind of web,” station crewmember Sandra Magnus reported to flight controllers. ‘It is all over the inside of the box.”

The critters are flying inside a commercially developed chamber and will remain aboard the station after the shuttle’s departure next week.

“We’re happy to see our new pets on board and see them in action,” said station commander Mike Fincke.

One of the spiders appears to be a bit camera shy: It has not been seen since the apparatus, which also contains butterfly larvae, was set up on the space station.

'We don't believe he has escaped,” said station program manager Kirk Shireman. “I am sure we will find him spinning a web somewhere in the next few days."

Comments

[Adam Cutsinger]

I love this article! Owning pets and interacting with animals is awesome, so for the peeps in the space station to be able to do it is even awesomer. Just wait till that missing spider starts biting astronauts while they sleep, though. They'll want to catch him and put him back in his jar.

[Chris]

What is the importance of the misshapen web I wonder. Why doesn't it conform to earthly webs? One could say the lack of gravity is the cause, but how long will it take the spiders to adapt? Also, does the lack of gravity affect the chemical make-up of the web as it does its design? I want to see the reports from the experiment because I am sure two spiders are not on the station 'just because.'

[Jessi]

I'm curious about the mishappen web also! I suppose there are many scientific/biological factors that could contribute to that.

I am also curious if PETA had anything to say about this. I can SO see them pitching a fit!

[Mike]

I was under the impression that it would be difficult for spiders to survive in a low gravity environment. From what I remember of middle school biology (about 10 years ago now), their cardiovascular system is dependent on gravity. The simple explanation being "their heart is on the bottom and it shoots the blood up where it bathes all the organs with oxygenated blood" because they have no blood vessels... if there is no gravity to create a steady flow of oxygenated blood, then it seems that would be a nigh on useless system

[Mike]

I have heard of a portion of the brain containing a metal that some believe most living creatures have. It is believed to be how ants and bees home to the earths magnetic field. If this is so, and spiders somehow use this for simple tasks as detecting up or down, maybe the change in the distance and relative position to the earths magnetic fields throw this portion of the brain off. I wonder if the testing of homing with bees in orbit would be possible to test this. Just a thought from and over imaginative trucker

[Mike]

As to Jessi's post, if i remember correctly from my keeping tarantulas as pets, spiders do not have muscles, but rely on blood pressure to control the limbs, i.e pump X amount of blood to limb Y for movement...other than that, dunno

[Paul Savoie]

Maybe the female spider ate the male...?

[Halle]

You can see the image feeds by visiting http://www.bioedonline.org/space/index.cfm

This is the Web site of one of the groups running the experiment from Baylor College of Medicine.

[sarah]

wow thats kool and im with that dude chris i think PETA got to say some things bout that

[sarah]

wow thats kool and im with that dude chris i think PETA got to say some things bout that

[sohbet]

Just wait till that missing spider starts biting astronauts while they sleep, though

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