Robonaut 2 Arrives at International Space Station

DETROIT Feb. 25, 2011

R2 has been packed aboard the space shuttle orbiter Discovery since fall 2010 and was originally scheduled to go into space in early November. The final launch of Discovery on Thursday was delayed by a combination of weather and technical issues with the orbiter. Docking with the International Space Station is expected to occur Saturday.

Kennedy Space Center Florida

Houston

Along with R2, a rack with a variety of interchangeable task boards was shipped to the ISS. The astronauts and engineers will evaluate R2’s performance in a range of simulated tasks while operating in the microgravity environment of space. Based on the data measured on the orbiting station, the engineers on the ground will provide updated software and hardware.

R2 will remain aboard the ISS indefinitely and if all goes well, it will eventually be used to perform mundane maintenance and service tasks.  Upgraded versions of R2 could eventually perform space walks.

Marty Linn

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SOURCE General Motors