NASA’s humanoid astronaut robot has been sent to Australia for testing. Dubbed Valkyrie, the humanoid robot can be used during the agency’s Artemis and other space missions.
NASA’s Valkyrie humanoid robot is being sent to Woodside Energy in Australia from its home base at the Johnson Space Center in Houston for extensive testing. Valkyrie,NASA’s humanoid astronaut robot, is intended for use during the agency’s Artemis and other space missions and to assist human astronauts.
NASA’s humanoid robot undergoes extensive testing
The agreement between NASA and Woodside Energy is based on extensive testing of the Valkyrie robot and the exploration of uses outside of space. Within the scope of the tests, the robot’s capabilities to provide remote maintenance of uncrewed and offshore power facilities will be tested. NASA hopes the tests conducted at Woodside’s facilities will gain valuable insight into how to better engineer robots to operate in polluted and dangerous conditions, such as those found on the Moon and other planets.
Some of the activities the robot will undertake include inspection and maintenance of infrastructure and facilities that use resources and materials to produce new products. Valkyrie and other advanced mobile robots have the potential to help people oversee dangerous jobs remotely or ease the burden of tedious and repetitive tasks. For this reason, robots are key tools for the realization of tasks like Artemis and for humanity to be permanent on the lunar surface.
“We are pleased to begin the next phase of development and testing of advanced robotic systems that have the potential to positively impact life on Earth by enabling safer operations in hazardous environments,” said Shaun Azimi, leader of the robotics team at NASA.