Slashdot Mirror
NASA Working On Refueling Satellites
cylonlover writes "Geostationary satellites cost a fortune and, despite their sophistication, they break down or eventually run out of propellant to keep them oriented. This is unfortunate when the nearest garage is back on Earth, so NASA wants to remedy this with an orbital version of roadside service. The space agency is developing a service robot that can visit ailing satellites and refuel or even repair them on the spot. The refueling program is already at an advanced enough stage that a technology demonstrator called the Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM) was delivered to the International Space Station (ISS) in July of last year. The RRM was installed on a temporary platform outside the station. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center wants a robot capable of carrying out what it calls the five 'Rs' – refueling, repositioning, remote survey, component replacement or repairing – on any satellite that might require its services."
What will refuel the refueling robots? Refueling-robot-refueling robots? Hopefully they're universal and can refuel each other, at which point we have a perpetual motion machine (as opposed to an infinite mass of fuel-hungry robots in geostationary orbit).
Maybe if this is successful, Nasa can spin off the technology to earth-bound vehicles as well. I would love to have some robot wander by from time to time and refuel or service my car overnight! You could even have robotic landscapers and robotic Christmas decoration putter-uppers. Really, the possibilities are endless. And, of course, a commercial success with this would help pay for more space exploration.
it's = "it is"; its = possessive. E.g., it's flapping its wings.
I don't want to live on this planet anymore.
Good News! We've got the firepower to make that happen since we haven't been wasting money on satellites!
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!