Tangled webs
In 1973, scientists delivered Anita and Arabella, two common Cross spiders (Araneus diadematus), to Skylab 3. High school student Judith Miles wondered if microgravity conditions would prevent or somehow complicate the spiders’ ability to weave webs, and she proposed the Skylab experiment with scientists from the Marshall Space Flight Center. Both spiders struggled at first and were reluctant to do anything while in orbit, but with some prodding and access to rare filet mignon (yes, really) and water, the spiders began to weave rudimentary webs. Anita and Arabella got better at building their webs on subsequent attempts and their silky creations compared well to those made back on Earth. “Judy Miles’ experiment received a great deal of attention both within NASA and in the world press and indicated that there was keen interest in space experiments involving living organisms,” NASA described.
