CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - The first humanoid robot ever launched into space is finally free.
Astronauts at the International Space Station unpacked Robonaut on Tuesday, 2½ weeks after its arrival via shuttle Discovery. NASA broadcast the humorous unveiling ceremony Wednesday.
Astronauts pried off the lid of the robot's packing box, as though they were opening a coffin. TV cameras showed lots of foam inside, but no robot.
"It's like unearthing a mummy," radioed a payload controller at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.
"Well, at least the mummy would be here," Coleman replied. "We just have an empty box where Robonaut is supposed to be."
Robonaut - also known as R2 - was spotted a minute later in front of a work station.
"I'd like to introduce you to the newest member of our crew," Coleman said. "We're going to see what Robonaut can do."
The payload controller asked if R2 was related to HAL, the sinister computer with artificial intelligence from the 1968 film "2001: A Space Odyssey."
"Since we found him already controlling the space station, we're sure that he is related to HAL. But we'll see," Coleman said.
The robot is intended as an astronaut helper, inside the space station, in the decade ahead. Legs should arrive next year.
You can TRACK THE SPACE STATION with this link for Google Earth. This file shows the position of International Space Station, it's horizon, and a two hour orbital track so you can see what it's passing over.
Showing posts with label NASA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NASA. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
MESSENGER Finds MICKEY MOUSE On Mercury!!!
It looks like Messenger has returned high resolution photos of Mickey Mouse on the surface of Mercury! Could it be the most epic mickey mouse promotion that NASA / Disney Channel has ever done? To early for an April Fools joke? APRIL FOOLS! Like it on Facebook!
Mercury MESSENGER Sends 363 NEW HD Photos This Afternoon
Sometime this afternoon, NASA is set to release 363 new HD photographs from the Mercury orbiting observer, "MESSENGER".
It is said these will be secrete spilling photos which will give humans unprecedented insight into the planet, as never before areas and features will be visible.
For now, you can study Mercury in Google Earth, here.
Will we see inhabitable zones in icy crater shadows? Will all the photos be black and white? We'll have to wait for the download!
MESSENGER Mission News
March 28, 2011
http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/
NASA to Release MESSENGER's First Orbital Images Of Mercury
NASA will release the first orbital image of Mercury's surface, including previously unseen terrain, on Tuesday afternoon, March 29. Several other images will be available Wednesday, March 30, in conjunction with a media teleconference at 2 p.m. EDT to discuss these initial orbital images taken from the first spacecraft to orbit Mercury.
NASA's MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging, or MESSENGER, entered orbit March 17 after completing more than a dozen laps within the inner solar system during the past 6.6 years.
Media teleconference participants are:
-- Sean Solomon, MESSENGER principal investigator, Carnegie Institution of Washington
-- Eric Finnegan, MESSENGER mission systems engineer, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel. Md.
To participate in the teleconference, reporters must contact Dwayne Brown at dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov or 202-358-1726 for dial-in instructions.
During the teleconference, MESSENGER information and images will be available at http://www.nasa.gov/messenger.
Audio of the teleconference will be streamed live on NASA's website at: http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio.
MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging) is a NASA-sponsored scientific investigation of the planet Mercury and the first space mission designed to orbit the planet closest to the Sun. The MESSENGER spacecraft launched on August 3, 2004, and entered orbit about Mercury on March 17, 2011 (March 18, 2011 UTC) to begin a yearlong study of its target planet. Dr. Sean C. Solomon, of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, leads the mission as Principal Investigator. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory built and operates the MESSENGER spacecraft and manages this Discovery-class mission for NASA.
It is said these will be secrete spilling photos which will give humans unprecedented insight into the planet, as never before areas and features will be visible.
For now, you can study Mercury in Google Earth, here.
Will we see inhabitable zones in icy crater shadows? Will all the photos be black and white? We'll have to wait for the download!
MESSENGER Mission News
March 28, 2011
http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/
NASA to Release MESSENGER's First Orbital Images Of Mercury
NASA will release the first orbital image of Mercury's surface, including previously unseen terrain, on Tuesday afternoon, March 29. Several other images will be available Wednesday, March 30, in conjunction with a media teleconference at 2 p.m. EDT to discuss these initial orbital images taken from the first spacecraft to orbit Mercury.
NASA's MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging, or MESSENGER, entered orbit March 17 after completing more than a dozen laps within the inner solar system during the past 6.6 years.
Media teleconference participants are:
-- Sean Solomon, MESSENGER principal investigator, Carnegie Institution of Washington
-- Eric Finnegan, MESSENGER mission systems engineer, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel. Md.
To participate in the teleconference, reporters must contact Dwayne Brown at dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov or 202-358-1726 for dial-in instructions.
During the teleconference, MESSENGER information and images will be available at http://www.nasa.gov/messenger.
Audio of the teleconference will be streamed live on NASA's website at: http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio.
MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging) is a NASA-sponsored scientific investigation of the planet Mercury and the first space mission designed to orbit the planet closest to the Sun. The MESSENGER spacecraft launched on August 3, 2004, and entered orbit about Mercury on March 17, 2011 (March 18, 2011 UTC) to begin a yearlong study of its target planet. Dr. Sean C. Solomon, of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, leads the mission as Principal Investigator. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory built and operates the MESSENGER spacecraft and manages this Discovery-class mission for NASA.
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