awwww...

Sometimes one's culture is captured in a tiny anecdote that kind of makes you proud. Apparently the Space Station launched some spiders for science experiments. There were news reports of a missing spider, but not to worry:

"We're not missing a spider," space station flight director Holly Ridings assured reporters Monday, adding that — since it's NASA — there is a backup spider with his own designated area. "The way it was explained to me, he came out of his bedroom and may be into the living room of the house."

A backup spider. In his living room! That essentializes for me the improbable mix of mind boggling planning with childish delight that is American science.