The current space shuttle mission had been delayed for so long that I began to think they wouldn’t get to go until the space station was a bustling community of colonists. Station assembly missions continued taking priority over research. But now that they’re finally up, let’s take a look at what they’re up to. There are over 80 experiments on board, and 30 of those come from NASA’s Office of Biological and Physical Research. Most of their projects, not surprisingly, involve living in space, especially effects on the human body, but there are also experiments that may improve earthquake safety and firefighting techniques. Accompanying the astronauts onboard are an ant colony from Syracuse, NY, spiders from Melbourne, Australia, carpenter bees from Liechtenstein, Medaka fish from Japan, and silkworms from China. Those are all student experiments, mostly studying the effects of weightlessness on the creatures. I doubt they have enough silkworms for this, but wouldn’t it be neat to have a hanky spun in space?