Will Gladys and Esmeralda find symmetry in space? Photo Credit/NASA Photo
Astronauts aboard the International Space Station are tending a pair of golden orb-web spiders, left aboard by the shuttle Endeavour astronauts.
Gladys and Esmeralda are part of a 45-day student experiment to compare the web spinning techniques of spiders in
weightlessness with those anchored to Earth by gravity.
The “arachnidauts” are restricted to an experiment enclosure that keeps them from mingling with the station’s resident astronauts from the U. S. and Russia.
Learn more about the experiment and watch Gladys and Esmeralda in action.
Endeavour’s 16-day mission to the space station returned to Earth on Wednesday.
Previous space spiders spun webs with greater symmetry than their Earthly relatives. But those experiments were limited to eight days or less by the food and water supplies. This time, the space spiders were accompanied by a swarm of fruit flies for food and plenty of water to keep them spinning.
The spider experiment’s sponsors include the Baylor College of Medicine , NASA’s National Lab Office and BioServe Space Technologies of the University of Colorado.
The spider experiment and others involving plants are intended to encourage students in kindergarten through high school to develop an interest in science, technology, engineering and math.