Why did NASA send spiders to space?

 

  since the late 40s  humans have looked towards the stars and  try to escape to worlds beyond  but we aren't the only animals who've  experienced the zero gravity of space  nasa has sent everything from monkeys  rats  dogs and even fish into orbit  you might also be surprised to know that  some of our eight-legged friends  also took a trip beyond earth's  atmosphere so  what happened when nasa sent spiders  into space  welcome to  and in today's  article we're taking arachnophobia to the  stars  in what happened when nasa sent spiders  into space golden orb weaver spiders are  nature's great architects of entrapment  the original inspiration behind marvel  spider-man and  arguably much better web builders they  belong to one of the oldest group of  spiders  having been on this planet catching and  bundling up prey to hang from their webs  like gruesome trophies  for over 165 million years  they form massive silicon structures  that are gigantic in proportion to their  size  and even in the 21st century scientists  still can't replicate the waterproof  material  that is as elastic as nylon and five  times as strong as steel  at relative thickness the silk is  homemade  formed in their rear ends by fusing  together amino acids  to form a long chain of protein before  delicate valves in the spinnerets  control the rate of delivery and  thickness of the silk  the mental giants in nasa wanted to see  if the earth's gravity had anything to  do with the spider's ability  to produce such spectacularly complex  webs  so decide to test out the hypothesis two  golden or weaver spiders were selected  for the experiment  and the legend of esmeralda the arachno  naught and gladys the astronade  were born the historic experiment  the very first study of arachnids in  space was aboard the skylab space  station  in 1973 after high school student judith  miles  proposed the experiment as part of a  nationwide competition  the common cross spider was the orb  weaving species used  for its ability to live three weeks  without food or water  arabella was the first to be let loose  in the enclosure  and refused to leave a cramped transport  chamber  after coaxing her out she built a small  mess of web in the corner  where she remained for a few days    baka bonito was deployed next for the  purpose of observing three  fully formed webs over the course of the  experiment sadly  she also built a substandard web which  she proceeded to consume  a protocol was approved to feed them a  small amount of filet mignon to provide  additional nutrients and a water supply  for the experiment which proved  ineffective  back on earth the failed experiment  highlighted an important conclusion  that spiders needed sufficient  sustenance to build webs in space  for any future study to take place the  official name for this scientific  investigation was the commercial generic  bioprocessing apparatus science insert  05  a huge mouthful appropriately  abbreviated to csi05  it seeks to study how microgravity  affects spiders  fruit flies and the directional growth  of plants this was the next iteration  of the popular experiment series made  famous by the successful completion  of the full life cycle of the  brilliantly orange colored monarch  butterfly  in csi03 back in 2009.  this csi03 study also featured orb  weavers  however issues with their food supply  and vision being obscured in the  observation window  limited the experiment to a mere eight  days building up  csi05 to be a bigger and better spidery  sequel  the spiders and enclosure were  transferred to the international space  station aboard the space shuttle  endeavour  on may 16 2011. the module and  associated equipment serve to provide  and maintain a consistent environment  with a consistent temperature humidity  and lighting cycle for the spiders to  replicate conditions found in the  natural environment here on earth  not only the ones in the limelight  spiders wouldn't do too well  on the rations of astronauts and we use  this term loosely  enjoy while they're up in space spiders  eat other bugs  a resource that is notoriously absent  from the controlled environment of the  international space station  as a result a secondary experiment was  proposed that a dual purpose  fruit flies would be bred from lava in  zero gravity environment  to not only see the effects microgravity  had on their behavior movement flight  patterns and reproductive cycles  but also ultimately became chow for  other insects on board  predatory arachnids once scientists had  successfully grown and studied the adult  fruit flies  they would be added to the spider  enclosure to act as sustenance  for the primary experiment  humans share a huge portion of their  genome with fruit flies  and 75 percent of the disease-causing  genes found in humans  can actually be found in the humble  fruit fly some of the data collected in  the space flights was translated and  used to help map the human genome  something for everyone schools around  the globe joined in on the fun as well  with over 130 000 students participating  in the bioed online program  a resource for teachers that provides a  step-by-step guide on replicating  the csi05 experiment on earth  teachers help students build their own  controlled habitat in the classroom  for both fruit flies and their own  native species of warb  weaving spider they serve to act as a  control set of data to compare  the data gathered on the iss too the  initiative was aimed to stimulate  children's curiosity and plant the seed  of interest  for them to pursue a career in  engineering and the sciences  a great childhood memory that showed  them how science could both be fun  and challenging at the same time  a false start upon reaching their new  home in space  the spiders took substantially longer to  make the adjustment than the human  astronaut crewmates  the first three days saw very chaotic  and misshapen webs  often too poorly constructed to catch  their fruit fly prey  instead of erecting an effective  two-dimensional web to catch their fruit  fly prey  webs extended in all directions with  huge gaping holes that the fruit flies  could drive a semi-truck through  they overcame this initial hurdle  however in the second half their first  week in space  saw them adapt to the weightlessness of  space and spin webs that  more resemble those seen on terra firma  over the period of a few days  the design became more complex and  regular as the spiders made changes to  account for the microgravity  and started to successfully trap prey  the results after the shaky first few  days acclimated to space  both esmeralda and gladys quickly fell  into the routine of erecting a new web  each day  before eating it in the simulated  evening to reabsorb the protein needed  for next day's web  this conservation of valuable nutrients  is the same behavior seen by their kind  here on earth  golden orb weavers will typically spin  and mend their webs at all times during  the day  however the two in space typically  followed a stricter construction  timetable  they would erect a brand new web in the  early morning hours and quickly get to  the task of consuming their web  immediately after dark unlike other  species who sit at the center of their  webs waiting for a meal  golden orb weavers spin asymmetric webs  with their waiting parlor off-center and  located on the edge of the web near an  anchor point from here  the web's kill zone fans out over 180  degree range  oddly in space esmeralda and gladys spun  symmetric webs sitting in the center  vastly different to the control species  in classroom  typically golden orb weavers face  downwards while sitting on their webs  as gravity assists them to pounce on  prey caught in the web below  the upside to building a web in space is  that there is no  resistance from gravity the end result  was that the attacking prey in any  direction was  much easier than on earth and in effect  the spiders became much better hunters  while in space  both esmeralda and gladys could move  around much faster than their brethren  in the classrooms back home  though the experiment only lasted 45  days in space the classroom studies  provided the data necessary to make  a detailed cross-analysis of the data to  see how microgravity  really affected the spiders silk samples  sent in from around the world  were compared to those made in space  spiders in orbit  used a much thinner diameter web proving  that the spiders use gravity and their  relative weight as parameters for web  construction  and design  the other experiment ahead of the  revisited experiment of web spinning in  space  nasa also exposed spiders to a number of  chemicals in 1995  as part of a study affectionately known  as spiders of the 60s  it involved administering them with  therapeutic doses of caffeine  marijuana benzedrine and chlorohydrate  not surprisingly being under the  influence of mind-altering substances  severely hindered a spider's ability to  make a symmetrical web  as the dosage increased there was a  notable decrease in the number of sides  of the web as spyder made  caffeine produced some of the worst webs  begging the question  how healthy are those two cups of coffee  a day