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NASA building robots to lend a helping hand in space

Posted on: Tuesday, 2 December 2003, 06:00 CST

In the wake of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, some critics have questioned the need to endanger human life for space exploration.

Even as NASA researchers work on robotic technology for future missions, officials are not ready for their astronauts to hang up their space suits just yet. Bonnie Dunbar, an assistant director at NASA's Johnson Space Center, said the space agency sees a future where humans and robots work together.

"Robotics are still not the same as the human brain," said Dunbar during a lecture last week at the University of Utah. "Robots only do what they are programmed to do."

One NASA program is developing a human-like robot with opposable thumbs to handle delicate tasks. Known as Robonauts, the devices can grip rubber balls and other items with a high-level of dexterity, she said.

Kelly Humphries, a Johnson Space Center spokesman, said NASA has developed a pair of prototype Robonauts that could one day assist humans repairing the International Space Station. This summer, an astronaut took the robotic devices for a test spin to see how they handled truss-building tasks.

Robonaut "is capable of doing almost all the things the human hand can do," Humphries said.

At the moment, the technology is under development and NASA has no target date for deploying Robonauts, he said. If NASA makes the project a higher priority, units could be ready to be tested in orbit within a few years.

Researchers envision Robonauts helping humans on space walks with such tasks as handing tools to the astronaut. With Robonauts handling the grunt work, humans could more efficiently use their limited space-walk time.

Another scenario might involve keeping a Robonaut outside the space station in case an object, such as orbiting debris, strikes the station. The robot could be dispatched to the area to analyze the problem, he said.

"You wouldn't need to rush to get out there," Humphries said of the station personnel. "You'd already have someone on the scene."

Dunbar said humans can control Robonauts using equipment that looks like a virtual-reality visor. Robonauts mimic the user's hand movements.

Other robotic applications could include multi-wheeled rovers that carry gear for astronauts as they work on the Moon or Mars. Though NASA has no active programs aimed at sending people to either destination, preparation work continues for such potential missions.

Even if such robotics technology had been available in the 1970s, it is unclear whether robots would have been capable of picking the right rocks to bring back to Earth. Dunbar said geologists taught astronauts how to recognize geologically-interesting specimens. It would have been a daunting task to program those skills in a robot.

Working together, humans can tell robots where to conduct scientific research. For the immediate future, that human presence is seen as essential to react to ever-changing field conditions, Dunbar said.

glavine@sltrib.com

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