Will NASA's R2 Robot Make Astronauts Obsolete?
The answer to the question in the title is, almost certainly not. R2 is designed as a precursor explorer and as an assistant for human astronauts to do mundane tasks, freeing up the humans for exploring and science. But notice that almost human dexterity demonstrated in the upper body model in the Houston Chronicle video below. So what is R2 more like? Rosie from the Jetsons? Or the Terminator? I suggest, C3PO, but better and with a less irritating mode of speaking (i.e. none whatsoever currently.)
Published by Mark Whittington
Mark R. Whittington is a writer residing in Houston, Texas. He is the author of The Last Moonwalker, Children of Apollo, Dark Sanction, and Nocturne. He has written numerous articles, some for the Washington... View profile
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2 Comments
Post a CommentFabulous. The robot's fingers moved just like a human's which is simply amazing. Thanks for sharing.
Fascinating video... I wonder how much GM spent on this...