Joint research

 has developed prototype flexible joints inspired by spiders' legs, which could find their way into future exploratory space missions, such as those planned to Mars over the next 20 years.

The biomimetic research by ESA's Advanced Concepts Team focused on spiders because one of their natural advantages is that they are capable of creating large amounts of force starting from negligible mass. The reason for this is the unique method they use when extending their legs.

While spiders — like humans — use flexor muscles to bend their limbs they do not have the corresponding extensors that most animals have to then re-extend their legs.

Instead of muscle, spiders use a peculiar hydraulic system that manipulates the spider's blood to pressurise its joints by pumping the fluid into the spaces between muscles and the skeleton, forcing the leg to straighten. It was this characteristic that ESA researchers thought could be of use during space missions.