Robot Tweets From Space

Robonaut 2 or R2 has started sending tweets from outer space. The human like robot is at the International Space Station helping the humans there with jobs both inside and outside. It’s twitter account is @astrobonaut and despite its early messages being sent by humans before it was woken up, it is now sending real messages such as answering questions and sending birthday greetings. The robot took 15 years to build using a joint project between NASA and General Motors.

The robot has a human look, with torso are arms and a helmet with visor on. It does not have legs but is attached to a fixed base. It will get a leg eventually for climbing through the corridors in the space station or it may be mounted on a wheeled rover called Centaur for exploring Lunar and Martian surfaces.

There are four robots like this on earth, but R2 is more sophisticated than these with a wider range of senses, more dexterity and an capability of being faster. It is there to show how robots can cope in a weightless environment but the hope it will do some space walks in the future. It will accompany humans so that it can do jobs that they cannot do.