Before NASA sends him to the International Space Station in November on one of the last Shuttle trips, the first humanoid space traveller, Robonaut 2, has some preparations to make. Among them: sending updates about his upcoming mission from his new Twitter account, @AstroRobonaut.“Hello World! My name is Robonaut 2 — R2 for short,” R2 (and his team) tweeted this week. “Follow my adventures here as I prepare for space!”On Aug. 4, R2 and his team will even answer questions submitted via Twitter, starting at 10 a.m. Robo’s followers can submit questions by including the hashtag #4R2 in their questions tweeted to @AstroRobonaut. Here’s ours: “What’s it feel like to be the most advanced dexterous humanoid robot in existence?” Also, “Have you seen 2001?”HAL 9000 takes questions from a reporter.Originally intended as an Earth-bound robot by its creators, NASA and General Motors, R2 will be tested for his ability to operate in microgravity. Over time, upgrades and modifications could be made to allow the 300-pound robot to help astronauts work inside and outside of the station, with both routine tasks and those too dangerous for humans. He’s already proved his ability to pump iron, and he has excellent penmanship, even with space pens.But he’s not much of a typer, not yet, nor is he versed in the ways of Kanye-like ego-socializing and classical-music ruminating. “The robot has a team of folks tweeting for it, including engineers,” NASA’s Brandi Dean told Motherboard. “R2 is very cool,” she added.Though he will be sent to space in Space Shuttle Discovery’s cargo bay, if he performs well, perhaps NASA will upgrade him to a seat in the cockpit. Oh wait – we don’t have any more spaceships at the moment. Not for humans anyway.Robonaut at NASA
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