Last Wednesday the first handshake in space between a human and a humanoid took place when commander Daniel Burbank of the International Space Station (ISS) shook hands with Robonaut 2, NASA’s humanoid robot. You may remember Robonaut 2 from last year, when we reported about it (or should we say him?) after it appeared during the Super Bowl commercial break.
Robonaut 2, successor to the original Robonaut and also known as R2, is the first dexterous humanoid robot in space. R2 is capable of speeds more than four times faster, is more compact, is more dexterous and includes a deeper and wider range of sensing than its predecessor. NASA designed Robonaut to help humans work and explore in space and has sent it to the International Space Station as part of the STS-133 mission. Currently, R2 has no lower body and is deployed on a fixed pedestal. Future versions should give it legs and enable the robot to go outside the space station into the vacuum of space, and maybe practice a bit of medicine while inside.
Here you can see the video of the human-humanoid handshake inside the ISS:
Flashback: NASA’s Robonaut 2 Makes an Appearance During the Super Bowl
NASA: Robonaut homepage…