By Brian Vastag The Washington Post WASHINGTON — After a space
voyage of almost 42 million miles, Nefertiti the "Jumping
Johnson" spider landed at the Smithsonian's Insect Zoo at the
National Museum of Natural History last week. Unfortunately,
whether it was her long flight or the short natural life span of
a spider, "Neffi" was found lifeless Monday morning, after only
four days on public view. "Yes, it's unfortunate. She seemed
well-adjusted to earth and was in good spirits. But 10 months is
a good run for a little jumping spider," said museum spokesman
Randall Kremer, The thumbnail-size brown spidernaut was sent to
the international space station as a student project in June and
later splashed down in the Pacific aboard a SpaceX Dragon
capsule. During her 100-day mission, the spider adapted to
weightlessness and learned to snag fruit flies with an
unorthodox method. Instead of leaping onto her quarry, as
jumping spiders do on Earth, Neffi "sidled up to the fruit
flies," said Dan Babbit, manager of the O. O