Space Spider Arabella Logged 24 Million Miles in 858 Orbits via Skylab

Summary: From July to September 1973, space spider Arabella logged 24 million miles in 858 orbits via Skylab, the first United States space station.

Lexington High School student Judith S. Miles discusses her proposed Skylab experiment, Web Formation in Zero Gravity, during a design review of the experiment’s equipment; Marshall Space Flight Center’s Henry Floyd (left) and Keith Demorest (right); Marshall Space Flight Center, Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Alabama; Aug. 21, 1972: NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center, Public Domain, via Internet Archive

Space spider Arabella logged 24,500,000 miles in 858 orbits of Earth from July to September 1973 via Skylab, the first United States space station.

Arabella and another common cross spider (Araneus diadematus), Anita, flew aboard Skylab as participants in experiment ED52, Web Formation in Zero Gravity. The experiment was proposed by Judith S. Miles, a student at Lexington High School in Massachusetts. The mission’s three-astronaut crew comprised fourth moonwalker Alan Bean (March 15, 1932-May 26, 2018) as Commander and first space flight astronauts Owen Garriott (Nov. 22, 1930-April 15, 2019) and Jack Lousma (born Feb. 19, 1936) as scientist-pilot and mission pilot, respectively.

The Skylab 3 mission, designated as SL-3, launched Saturday, July 28, 1973, at 11:10:50 Coordinated Universal Time (7:10 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time) via the Saturn IB (one B) launch vehicle from east central Florida’s Cape Kennedy (Cape Canaveral since Oct. 9, 1973). The mission’s Apollo command and service module (CSM) docked at Skylab at 19:37:00 UTC (3:37 p.m. EDT).

Arabella received recognition as the first spider to spin a web in space with discovery of a “rudimentary web” Monday, Aug. 6. The previous day, Sunday, Aug. 5, Owen Garriott had resorted to shaking Arabella’s transportation vial in order to relocate the reluctant spider into a specially constructed screened cage. Arabella displayed disoriented movements upon entry into the cage. The George C. Marshall Space Flight Center’s Skylab Student Project Report, released August 1974, observed: “Arabella bounced back and forth moving erratically in a swimming motion before she affixed herself to the screen covering on the cage surface.”

On Tuesday, Aug. 7, Arabella’s first web was noted as complete, although its construction was irregular. On Monday, Aug. 13, Owen Garriott removed half of Arabella’s web. Arabella ingested the remainder but displayed no interest in building a replacement.

After the scientist-pilot plied her with water, Arabella competently set about building a second web. The experiment’s protocol sought three complete webs from one spider. Accordingly, on Tuesday, Aug. 21, her second complete web was entirely removed from the apparatus.

The next day, Wednesday, Aug. 22, Arabella’s third spun-in-space web adorned the cage. The last web that Arabella spun in space “. . . was pronounced to be her best to date . . .,” according to the MSFC Skylab Student Project Report.

Arabella’s last two webs revealed her competent adjustment to weightlessness. Her movements also attested to her confident accommodation to her new environment. In their spring 1976 analysis of the Skylab 3 web experiment, German pharmacologist Peter N. Witt (born 1918), a specialist in web formation sensitivity to drugs, and four co-authors recalled footage from a CBS Evening News program of Aug. 28, 1973. Arabella was seen to run “very competently along the strands” of her web as she sought “to escape from the astronauts” (page 120).

Arabella’s reluctance to leave the cage contrasted dramatically with the disinterest in entering the cage that she had displayed three weeks earlier. On Sunday, Aug. 26, she was returned to her transportation vial, where she remained for the rest of the mission.

Anita replaced Arabella in the cage and dutifully spun three webs over the next three weeks. Anita’s web formation and movements mirrored Arabella’s experiences as the second spider to spin webs in space transitioned from clumsiness to comfortableness. Skylab 3 mission’s web formation experiment ended Sunday, Sept. 16, with the sad discovery of Anita’s demise in the cage. Her body was returned to her transportation vial.

Apollo CSM 117 undocked from Skylab Tuesday, Sept. 25, 1973, at 11:16:42 UTC (7:16 a.m. EDT). The command module’s splashdown in the northeastern Pacific Ocean occurred at 22:19:51 UTC (6:19 p.m. EDT).

The MSFC Skylab Student Project Report noted: “Upon return to earth Arabella was found to have expired also.” The report identified “signs of dehydration” as “the only visible evidence of cause of their demise.”

Dr. Witt et al. found “thirst and starvation” as likely contributors to the spiders’ deaths. Pre- and post-flight weights for Arabella were detailed as 180 milligrams (mg) and 103 mg, respectively. Anita’s weight plummeted from 210 mg pre-flight to 50 mg at death.

In 1974, NASA transferred Arabella’s and Anita’s remains to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum. Anita’s remains, enclosed in a formalin-filled plastic vial, are displayed in the museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Northern Virginia. Arabella’s vial-enclosed remains are currently displayed at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, north central Alabama.

The takeaways for space spider Arabella, who logged 24 million miles in 858 orbits via the Skylab space station are that the common cross spider spun space’s first web, that she competently overcame the disorienting effects of the unfamiliar environment of weightlessness and that she apparently died after the orbital flight part of the Skylab 3 mission.

Arabella (right) and Anita (left), the first and second spiders, respectively to spin webs in spaceAnita, the second spider to spin a web in space; Arabella is currently displayed at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, north central Alabama; Anita may be seen at the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, in Chantilly, Northern Virginia: NASA Skylab @NASA_Skylab, via Twitter July 11, 2018

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

Lexington High School student Judith S. Miles discusses her proposed Skylab experiment, Web Formation in Zero Gravity, during a design review of the experiment’s equipment; Marshall Space Flight Center’s Henry Floyd (left) and Keith Demorest (right); Marshall Space Flight Center, Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Alabama; Aug. 21, 1972: NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center, Public Domain, via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/MSFC-7032146

Arabella (right) and Anita (left), the first and second spiders, respectively to spin webs in spaceAnita, the second spider to spin a web in space; Arabella is currently displayed at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, north central Alabama; Anita may be seen at the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, in Chantilly, Northern Virginia: NASA Skylab @NASA_Skylab, via Twitter July 11, 2018, @ https://twitter.com/NASA_Skylab/status/1017068570914840580

For further information:

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Inside Space ‏@GoInsideSpace. “RT @spaceanswers: #DidYouKnow? Arabella the spider spun the 1st web in #space as an experiment on the '70s #Skylab 3.” Twitter. July 5, 2014.
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Marriner, Derdriu. "First Web in Space Was Spun in 1973 by Common Cross Spider Arabella." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2020.
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NASA Skylab ‏@NASA_Skylab. “In addition to being the #Skylab reentry anniversary, it’s also #AllAmericanPetPhotoDay, so here’s a shout-out to Skylab Space Spiders Anita and Arabella! http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-120312a.html . . .” Twitter. July 11, 2018.
Available @ https://twitter.com/NASA_Skylab/status/1017068570914840580

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Available @ https://www.facebook.com/airandspace/photos/a.390621412796/10151666717932797/

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