Arabella and Anita Spun First Space Webs in August 1973 at Skylab

Summary: Arabella and Anita spun the first space webs in August 1973 at Skylab, the first United States space station, during the Skylab 3 mission.

NASA Marshall Space Flight Center’s (MSFC) Dr. Raymond L. Gause, who serves as MSFC science adviser for Lexington, Massachusetts, high schooler Judith S. Miles’ web formation experiment, places a housefly as dinner in the web of common cross spider (Araneus diadematus) Arabella, the experiment’s prime spider; the end of Dr. Gause’s pen points to Arabella; NASA ID S73-32499 (July 1973); Date Created 1973-08-15; photo credit NASA: Generally not subject to copyright in the United States, via NASA Image and Video Library

Common cross spiders (Araneus diadematus) Arabella and Anita spun the first space webs in August 1973 at Skylab, the first United States space station, during the Skylab 3 mission’s experiment on web formation in zero g-force (gravitational force), known as weightlessness.

The Skylab 3 mission involved a large, multi-species crew. Arabella and Anita numbered among four animal species involved in biological experiments conducted during Skylab 3, NASA’s (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) second manned mission to the only space station operated exclusively by the United States. In addition to the two common cross spiders, six pocket mice (Perognathus longimembris), 180 fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) pupae, two mummichog minnows (Fundular heteroclitus) and 50 minnow fish eggs crewed as participants in experiments testing effects of weightlessness on web formation, circadian rhythms and orientation.

The mission’s commander was fourth moonwalker Alan LaVern Bean (March 15, 1932-May 26, 2018). Owen Kay Garriott (born Nov. 22, 1930) and Jack Robert Lousma (born Feb. 29, 1936) experienced their first spaceflights on Skylab 3 in their respective capacities as scientist-pilot and mission pilot.

The Skylab 3 mission launched Saturday, July 28, 1973, at 11:10:50 Coordinated Universal Time (7:10 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time) from Launch Pad 39B, Cape Kennedy, along Florida’s east central coast. (Since Oct. 9, 1973, the cape has been known by its original name of Cape Canaveral, Spanish for Cabo Cañaveral, “cape of reed beds.”)  The mission’s Saturn IB (one B) launch vehicle carried a payload of an Apollo Command and Service Module (CSM) for insertion into low-Earth orbit (LEO). Low-Earth orbits occupy altitudes between 99 and 1,200 miles (160 to 2,000 kilometers) above Earth’s surface.

Apollo CSM 117 successfully transported the mission’s crew and paraphernalia to the mission’s rendezvous with Skylab. The module docked at the space station at 19:37:00 UTC (3:37 p.m. EDT), eight hours 26 minutes 10 seconds after launch.

A specially designed, screened cage served as a protected site for web construction. Prior to and after their respective sessions in the cage, the first two spiders in space were secluded in separate transportation vials.

Arabella occupied the cage for the first three-week session, which began Sunday, Aug. 5. Arabella’s forced entry into the cage, effected by Owen Garriott’s shaking the reluctant spider’s vial, attested to her dismay at weightlessness. The George C. Marshall Space Flight Center’s Skylab Student Project Report, released August 1974, assessed Arabella’s awkward realization of the unfamiliar environment: “Arabella bounced back and forth moving erratically in a swimming motion before she affixed herself to the screen covering on the cage surface.”

Arabella’s “rudimentary web,” discovered in the cage’s corners Monday, Aug. 6, qualified Arabella as the first spider to spin a web in space. Her first web was found to be complete on Tuesday, Aug. 7.

The experiment’s protocol expected one spider to complete three webs. Accordingly, half of her first web was removed Monday, Aug. 13. Arabella ingested the remaining half but refrained from commencing a second web until the scientist-pilot supplied her with water. Arabella’s second and third webs revealed her mastery of weightlessness, as she moved confidently and spun competently. Arabella’s third web, observed in the cage Wednesday, Aug. 22, “. . . was pronounced to be her best to date . . .,” according to the MSFC Skylab Student Project Report.

Owen Garriott received permission to expand the protocol to test Anita’s skill sets in weightlessness. Anita’s three-week session began Sunday, Aug. 26. As with Arabella, first encounters with weightlessness proved troublesome for Anita’s movements and web construction. The second spider to make spun-in-space webs, however, overcame the challenges of her new environment, learning to move and spin with ease.

Sadly, on Sunday, Sept. 16, Owen Garriott discovered Anita’s lifeless body in the cage. He retrieved her body and deposited Anita’s dehydrated remains in her transportation vial.

The Skylab 3 mission ended Tuesday, Sept. 25. Apollo CSM 117 undocked from Skylab at 11:16:42 UTC (7:16 a.m. EDT). The module’s Pacific Ocean splashdown happened at 22:19:51 UTC (6:19 p.m. EDT).

Arabella apparently survived the orbital flight part of the Skylab 3 mission. She was found dead in her transportation vial after its post-splashdown removal from Apollo CSM 117.

The takeaway for Arabella and Anita, who spun the first space webs in August 1973 at Skylab, is that the two common cross spiders (Araneus diadematus) displayed persistence and resilience in successfully adjusting to the unfamiliar conditions of weightlessness in their new habitat, Skylab's Orbital Workshop (OWS), in space.

Skylab 3 mission’s spider cage for Experiment ED52, Web Formation in Zero Gravity (top left); Apollo 9 (March 3-March 13, 1969) Lunar Module Pilot Russell “Rusty” Schweikart (lower left) was involved in the manned Skylab missions in various capacities; Rusty Schweikart and Dr. Raymond Gause, NASA MSFC (Marshall Space Flight Center) science adviser for student investigator Judith L. Miles’ web formation experiment; NASA ID 0102080; Date Created 1973-01-01: Generally not subject to copyright in the United States, via NASA Image and Video Library

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

NASA Marshall Space Flight Center’s (MSFC) Dr. Raymond L. Gause, who serves as MSFC science adviser for Lexington, Massachusetts, high schooler Judith S. Miles’ web formation experiment, places a housefly as dinner in the web of common cross spider (Araneus diadematus) Arabella, the experiment’s prime spider; the end of Dr. Gause’s pen points to Arabella; NASA ID S73-32499 (July 1973); Date Created 1973-08-15; photo credit NASA: Generally not subject to copyright in the United States; may use this material for educational or informational purposes, including photo collections, textbooks, public exhibits, computer graphical simulations and Internet Web pages; general permission extends to personal Web pages, via NASA Image and Video Library @ https://images.nasa.gov/details-s73-32499

Skylab 3 mission’s spider cage for Experiment ED52, Web Formation in Zero Gravity (top left); Apollo 9 (March 3-March 13, 1969) Lunar Module Pilot Russell “Rusty” Schweikart (lower left) was involved in the manned Skylab missions in various capacities; Rusty Schweikart and Dr. Raymond Gause, NASA MSFC (Marshall Space Flight Center) science adviser for student investigator Judith L. Miles’ web formation experiment; NASA ID 0102080; Date Created 1973-01-01: Generally not subject to copyright in the United States; may use this material for educational or informational purposes, including photo collections, textbooks, public exhibits, computer graphical simulations and Internet Web pages; general permission extends to personal Web pages, via NASA Image and Video Library @ https://images.nasa.gov/details-0102080

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