Children dreaming of going into traveling as space tourists.
Because space is such an inhospitable environment, robots have long been a fixture of space missions, though none have been as sophisticated as those currently being designed and tested. Robots don't need to breathe, eat, drink, or even return to Earth, so sending them on dangerous or distant missions is generally less expensive. Some NASA robots are designed to gather rudimentary data from the surfaces of asteroids or comets, while others are capable of sending messages from below extraterrestrial ice. The Mars rovers, Perseverance and Curiosity, are some of the most famous robots sent to space in recent years. Some of the work on the International Space Station is managed by three robotic arms. One of these, the European Robotic Arm, even has the power to 'walk' around a designated area of the space station. But while NASA is lousy with robots, none are as nimble or capable as an astronaut, which has made a human presence on specific missions essential.
Humanoid robots are desirable because they should share many human capabilities, but creating a bipedal robot that is as functional as a human is quite challenging. Humanoid robots need to situate themselves in their environment and respond quickly to varied external stimuli. Design attempts have mostly yielded expensive prototypes that are significantly less autonomous and precise than humans. Tesla's struggles to create its robot are the most recent example of how challenging it is to develop humanoid bots. Despite these obstacles, space agencies worldwide are eager for humanoid robotic advancements. A recent article in the journal Space: Science & Technology claims that "robot astronauts have been listed as one of the key development directions of space intelligent robots in major aerospace countries such as Europe, America, and Russia."
A New (Robotic) Space Race
To date, nearly every major space agency is racing to develop robots capable of functioning in an extraterrestrial environment. NASA's Robonaut 2 has been in testing on the ISS since 2011 and has recently been given the addition of leg-like climbing manipulators. Similar James Webb Space Telescope, in orbit. Manu Nair, Ph.D. candidate at the University of Lincoln and one of the study's authors, notes, "As the scale of space missions grows, there is a need for more extensive infrastructures in orbit. Assembly missions in space would hold one of the key responsibilities in meeting the increasing demand."
As agencies, including NASA and SpaceX, aim to build outposts on Mars and beyond, the need to develop highly capable robots to replace or assist astronauts is increasingly imperative. While walking robots cannot replace humans in space quite yet, robotics experts worldwide are working overtime to ensure that sooner than later, they might.