As a Docent at the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum in Chantilly, Virginia (the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center) I have the privilege of introducing visitors to Air & Space history. Among the multitude of unique artifacts there are a few unusual gems that I like pointing out to visitors.
Anita the Spidernaut
In 1972, NASA held the Skylab Student Experiment Competition. One of the proposals selected by the panel of judges was that of Judith Miles, a high school student from Lexington, Massachusetts. Judith proposed incorporating a spider web-building project. Two spiders, Arabella and Anita launched into space aboard an Apollo spacecraft on the 28th of July 1973 headed for America’s first space station “Skylab”. Anita was released from her transport vial on August 23rd and proceeded to acclimate herself to her new “weightless” surroundings. During the mission she managed to spin at least one normal-looking spider web. At the museum, Anita is now immortalized inside a small vile at the back of the Space Hangar, one of the world’s first spiders in space. Anita also has the unique distinction of being the first spider to die in space, passing away on September 16th. It is assumed that the stresses of space-flight, not only the lack of gravity, led to dehydration and ultimately her early death. A very good scientific analysis of Arabella and Anita’s adventure is available in this article from The Journal of Arachnology. Skylab II astronaut Owen K. Garriott probably did not suffer from arachnophobia as he was the spider-wrangler conducting the experiment.