Death by Air Filter Presumed : Shuttle Fruit Fly AWOL
Challenger’s science astronauts photographed Halley’s comet today and noted the presumed demise of Willie the fruit fly, the insect that escaped from an experiment container earlier in the mission.
Two astronauts observing the fruit fly Sunday told mission control, “They don’t fly, they just float like we do.”
Today the astronauts told mission control in Houston that they had lost track of Willie.
“Finally, it was concluded the little creature ended his life in one of the (air) filters,” Ulf Merbold radioed the crew from the experiment control center. He said orbit 75 today was dedicated “in its memory” by scientists on the ground.
Officials today ruled out extending the weeklong mission by an extra day. The shuttle is to land at Edwards Air Force Base at 9:44 a.m. Wednesday.
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