No one is around to direct the seemingly autonomous robot. But the entire operation is being remote-controlled by Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano, who is flying 400 kilometers overhead in the International Space Station.
This is the second in a series of tests at NASA’s Ames Research Center aimed at taking the next giant leap in humans and robots working together. A technology known as telerobotics may one day allow astronauts to stay in orbit while guiding robots in real time on the surface of another planet. It will let humans explore new places, including perhaps unreachable locations such as the boiling valleys of Venus or the icy oceans of Europa, while lowering the risk to their lives.
via Wired
