Spiders in Space? What Could Go Wrong?
Spiders in space are, surprisingly, unhappy about living on the space station. Even the extra flies are no consolation for confused arachnauts.
Sending spiders to space seems like a good idea (because, science), but arachnids apparently have their own notions about living in space.
NASA researchers first sent spiders to space in the 1970's, so an arachnid-based experiment to raise science awareness among high school students in 2008 seemed logical. That was before one spider muscled his way out of his pen.
But, as is so often the case, what could have been simply written off as a mistake grew into a series of experiments on spiders in space, yielding unexpected science.
Someone Needs to Tell Spiders About the Scientific Method…
The experiment seemed simple enough — a pair of spiders would be allowed to live aboard the International Space Station, and researchers would look at how they adjusted to life in the microgravity environment.
