Nefertiti, the

Spider that survived a trip to space dies in Earth-bound museum

12/6/2012

Nefertiti, the "spidernaut" who was billed as the first jumping spider to survive a trip to space, has died just days after being placed on display in the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. Perhaps the pressures of fame were too much for the arachnid to handle. Museum staff announced the death "with sadness" via their Facebook page, revealing that "Neffi" died of natural causes. She lived for 10 months; Her species typically lives for about a year. Nefertiti will go down in history with fellow spidernauts including Arabella and Anita, who became the first spiders to go to space in 1973. [Source]

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