Nasa is to send a human-like robot on the STS-133 mission to the International Space Station (ISS), where it will work as an assistant to the astronauts.
The 300lb Robonaut 2 (R2), developed by Nasa and General Motors, has a head, a torso, two arms and two hands with which it can use the same tools as station crew members.
Once aboard the station, R2 will be confined to operations in the Destiny laboratory and will be monitored to see how it operates in weightlessness.
R2, still a prototype, is not designed to exist outside the space station in the extreme temperatures of space.
The robot will be tested in microgravity and subjected to the station’s radiation and electromagnetic interference environments.
The interior operations will provide performance data about how a robot might work side-by-side with astronauts.
Future advancements could allow it to move more freely around the station’s interior or outside the complex.
Currently, R2 is undergoing extensive testing in preparation for its flight on the Discovery shuttle in September 2010.
