Photo: Fedor via Twitter
At the beginning of September, Russia's most recently launched Soyuz spacecraft headed back to Earth after a two-week stay in space. Just like when it was launched, the spacecraft carried inside it a humanoid robot by the name of Skybot F-850.
The robot, part of a class of Russian machines called Fedor, departed our planet in August, seated in the Soyuz commander chair, like a boss. Hopes were high the launch will prove the viability of a humanoid robot being on deck to record what the spacecraft is doing.
It was the first time in the decades-long space exploration program such a machine was seated in the commander chair and not in its cargo hold. And humans nearly botched it.
The rocket that took the Soyuz to the ISS is the next generation tool that will be used to send humans in space. And whereas it performed flawlessly, not the same can be said about the capsule,
Due to a problem with one of the ISS docking ports, the capsule had to delay its rendezvous with the station by two days, arriving at its destination four days after it was launched,
Once onboard, the Skybot was put through a series of tests by the astronauts there and took a bunch of photos with them.
According to the robot's chief engineer, Evgeni Dudorov, this machine will never fly into space again, having "fulfilled its mission."
Skybot F-850 is part of the line of robots called Fedor (Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research) and has been under tests on Earth for years now. In the time since its creation, it learned to handle tools, drive cars, and even fire weapons.
On the ISS, the robot was supposed to prove the viability of such a system on the station. An improved version of it is in the works and will likely head to space on a future mission.
It was the first time in the decades-long space exploration program such a machine was seated in the commander chair and not in its cargo hold. And humans nearly botched it.
The rocket that took the Soyuz to the ISS is the next generation tool that will be used to send humans in space. And whereas it performed flawlessly, not the same can be said about the capsule,
Due to a problem with one of the ISS docking ports, the capsule had to delay its rendezvous with the station by two days, arriving at its destination four days after it was launched,
Once onboard, the Skybot was put through a series of tests by the astronauts there and took a bunch of photos with them.
According to the robot's chief engineer, Evgeni Dudorov, this machine will never fly into space again, having "fulfilled its mission."
Skybot F-850 is part of the line of robots called Fedor (Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research) and has been under tests on Earth for years now. In the time since its creation, it learned to handle tools, drive cars, and even fire weapons.
On the ISS, the robot was supposed to prove the viability of such a system on the station. An improved version of it is in the works and will likely head to space on a future mission.
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