NASA’s Robot Astronaut Inspiring Tech Advances Here on Earth

A humanoid robot aboard the International Space Station is inspiring technology that could be useful to both astronauts and people on Earth.

NASA’s Robonaut 2, which arrived at the orbiting lab in 2011, has human-like arms and hands capable of performing simple tasks such as flipping switches and grasping objects. The robot was originally designed to do work outside the station, potentially reducing the number of time-consuming and strenuous spacewalks required of astronauts.

However, the technology developed during the Robonaut program has inspired other ideas and is being adapted into several spinoffs that have application both in space and on Earth, NASA officials said…
Read more: space.com by Kelly Dickerson