NASA Astronaut Robot Assistant Flew Into Space For The First Time

Bumble, the cube-shaped robot made a jump in space by its own power. It is one of the Astrobee robots - a free-flight robot system developed by NASA to assist astronauts on the International Space Station. Astrobee robots can move in all directions and turn on any axis in space. Bumble is the first robot to fly into space and operate independently, although it can be managed by astronauts and flight controllers.

Bumble basically flew one step forward and rotates a bit to fly in the ISS. NASA’s scientists have designed important basic operations to ensure Bumble's engine system is operated and adjusted accurately. The main goal of these robots is to take autonomous actions, do basic maintenance work, and support human astronauts’ experiments. So scientists need to make sure it can function exactly as planned so that it can be put to work freely with human astronauts on the space station.

Besides Bumble, there is also a second Astrobee called Honey, which was also launched to the space station in April. If everything goes as planned, Queen is the Astrobee robot that is expected to be released in July this year to carry out the next resupply mission. On every Astrobee, there are cameras to navigate and record the experiments of human astronauts. They can also network to move equipment around the space station. Each robot has a small perching arm to hold objects and transport them. The robot will stop at a companion station to charge when needed.

There is a lot of work that needs to move around the International Space Station to conduct research and experiment in space. The 1-foot cubed robots developed by NASA will be an effective support for human astronauts. Astronauts will focus more on jobs that only humans can do and handle. This helps research projects be pushed ahead and completed faster.