They DO Grow 'Em Big In Florida...

We're usually not superstitious types here at ANN... but if you believe in omens, this couldn't have been a good one for NASA.

Last week, as NASA TV televised launch preparations for the shuttle Atlantis, viewers of the webcast were treated to a scene straight out of a 1960s Japanese sci-fi movie: a giant spider, "attacking" the orbiter.

Well, that's what it looked like, anyway. Of course, there was a more logical explanation. The spider wandered over the lens of the launch camera at Cape Canaveral, reports The Daily Telegraph.

Still, it made for 26-seconds of entertaining viewing (unless you suffer from arachnophobia, that is.) The video is available online here.

As ANN reported, NASA postponed the December 9 launch due to problems with engine cut-off sensors inside the shuttle's external tank. The agency is scheduled to perform an on-pad test of the problematic sensors Tuesday, though due to the upcoming holidays the soonest NASA will launch Atlantis is January 10.

FMI: www.nasa.gov, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider