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Android Robot
Remember Robby the Robot, the six foot talking robot in Forbidden Planet? How about the slightly sinister one in Irwin Allen’s Lost in Space? If not you probably grew up watching the android Commander Data discovering his ‘human side’ in Star Trek. Great fiction but it is about to come true. When the Space Shuttle Discovery makes its final flight from the Kennedy Space Center on the 24 February 2011, as well as spare supplies and vital spare parts for the International Space Station, the STS-133 mission is also expected to include Robonaut 2, known as ‘R2’ - the first human-like robot in space.
Space Robots?
Planned as the only permanent resident of the station, Robonaut 2 aims to help engineers understand how dexterous robots behave in space. It is expected that this information could eventually enable the development of a human-like robot which can work outside the space station, helping human space walkers with maintenance repairs and scientific work. R2 will be test operated inside the International Space Station’s Destiny laboratory.