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Robonaut "B" Getting Ready for Space
mykepredko writes "CNN has more about Robonaut B, which is an updated version of the original Robonaut including mobility using a modified Segway or a 'Space Leg' which allows it to use handholds on the ISS. I was expecting to see that it was being primarily developed for Hubble, but it should also be very useful for the ISS, allowing astronauts to stay inside when construction resumes."
it is also much safer for the astronauts to be at home. Hardly makes sense putting a robot up there for them to remote control when they could remote control it from earth. I think the idea of space habitation is to make it safe for humans to live and work in space, and that means making space suits that are safe and light weight enough to allow astronauts to get outside and do the job. This robot is just a step backwards from the goal (and a step towards sending the astronauts home).
How we know is more important than what we know.
You do realise that the astronauts are up there for other reasons too, right? It's not like they're up there solely to maintain the robot.
I think the idea of space habitation is to make it safe for humans to live and work in space, and that means making space suits that are safe and light weight enough to allow astronauts to get outside and do the job. This robot is just a step backwards from the goal (and a step towards sending the astronauts home).
It's not a step backwards. Keep in mind, astronauts were able to fix the Hubble in their current suits. They'll still be working on safer, lighter, more manuverable suits too. It's not like they're just going to give up on that, especially with the for manned Moon and Mars missions. If anything, it's in the right direction for autonomous robots. There will also be a place for robots and there will always be a place for humans. We need to work on both techonologies.
So what exactly do you want? Completely autonomous robots or completely safe spacesuits? We simply don't have the technology for either. It's space. It's dangerous. I don't think any kind of spacesuit in the next 25 years could survive a random debris collision of something even as small as a fingernail at those kind of speeds. That's where robots come into play. If it can be done without a human, all the better. That's not to say that rovers and robots should completely replace humans for space exploration, as we still need to the human element to connect with.
WWJD.... for a Klondike bar?
Earlier, when the astronauts were doing spacewalks with the Russian suits, the whole spacestation started wobbling and bucking around enough to activate the thrusters that keep it in orbit (though they had been disabled for fear that one would hit an astronaut). As it turned out, the Russian suits vent excess air with about 1N of force, enough to cause the station to ripple noticably over long spacewalks. Using a robot for construction will allow the astronauts to stay inside and avoid causing further wobble with the suits, not to mention reduce the risk involved in sending an astronaut outside (or for some construction projects, both astronauts, leaving the ISS unmanned inside).
This is quite common with spacecraft. When (oh wonderful, purely American-made and mother of all space stations, enough sarcasm) SkyLab was used, the crew reported problems especially when one of the astronauts moved or jumped around during the Apollo Space Telescope work which ruined the observations. Oh well, AST was a white elephant in any case. Go all the way there to observe what? Sun. Easiest thing to observe from ground...