NASA will continue to use robots for its future space missions. The space agency reportedly plans to use a humanoid bot to explore the moon and Mars.
Apptronik's Apollo Space Robot
NASA has partnered with a small robotics Texas-based company, Apptronik, Inc., to carry on its decades-long work on humanoid robots. Such robots may soon be deployed to orbit or possibly other planets to aid astronauts in their tasks.
Apollo is a humanoid robot that handles terrestrial tasks like logistics, manufacturing, and home healthcare assistance. The two organizations have been working together for a long time under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts program to enhance Apollo's capabilities.
While this is happening, NASA is very interested in refining Apollo (and similar robots) to serve as helpers for humans living and working in space, on the moon, and even on Mars. They might even one day serve as remotely controlled "avatars" on other planets that human operators from Earth would manage.
The modular nature of Apollo's design, particularly its versatility for logistics operations, has received particular attention from Apptronik. Apollo will have a payload capacity of 55 pounds (25 kg), stand at 5'8" tall, weigh 160 pounds (73 kilograms), and have a run time of about four hours per battery pack, according to Apptronik's website. As a result, even though its primary market is more Earth-bound customers, such as retail operations, warehousing, and manufacturing, NASA's interest shouldn't come as a surprise.
Apollo was said to be flexible, which implies that it should be somewhat reprogrammable and physically customizable. It already has different degrees of dexterity, independent capabilities, and tools it can use, but as research goes forward, additional capacity is expected to be added.
With decades of experience in robotics, NASA has contributed to the development of Apollo in areas including software design principles for secure human-robot interactions.
Shaun Azimi, manager of the dexterous robotics team at NASA's Johnson Space Center, said in a statement that they were able to encourage innovation in this critical field by bringing NASA's experience in human-safe mobile robots to commercial applications. He added that they were proud that their work has led to robotics technology that will boost the American economy, help people operate safely and effectively on Earth, and perhaps even aid in space missions.
Uses of Robots in Space Missions
General-purpose robots are very different from the special-purpose landers, rovers, and even airborne drones on other planets. Such robots would be much more adept at handling difficult or dangerous tasks on the lunar or Martian surface than a human could, and they should theoretically be able to be reprogrammed as necessary to carry out a new task whenever it was necessary - even one that its designers hadn't intended when they built it.
With such robots at their disposal, human explorers may focus on more vital tasks, such as doing scientific research, rather than mundane tasks like building shelters or collecting rock samples.
These robots could also help NASA run and manage mining and manufacturing operations on other planets that could utilize local resources on-site, significantly lowering the cost of maintaining these missions. After all, building a human house out of lunar regolith-based concrete would be more affordable and practicable than transporting one from Earth.
Therefore, integrating robots into NASA's Artemis program's future missions may be essential for establishing a long-term human presence.
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