A New Robot Sent to Space to Assist Astronauts

A robot inspired by science fiction films and designed to assist astronauts was launched early Friday, July 8, from Florida towards the International Space Station. This robot is the first personal companion and collaborator for astronauts, operating with artificial intelligence. It has been named CIMON, a combination of some letters from the phrase "Crew Interactive Mobile Companion." This robot, which speaks English and is about the size of a basketball, has an active Twitter account and reports on its journey to space. CIMON's first mission is to assist German astronaut Alexander Gerst with research at the International Space Station. Matthias Biniok, an engineer at IBM and one of the main architects of CIMON's AI design, told Reuters: "Our goal in creating and deploying this robot is to increase astronauts' efficiency." The robot will provide step-by-step instructions for Alexander Gerst during three scientific experiments to be conducted in the European section of the International Space Station. Currently, astronauts read these instructions from a laptop, which Alexander Gerst described as "labor-intensive," and a colleague like CIMON, which can communicate and does not require hands-on interaction, is much more efficient. According to Matthias Biniok, the current task is "to assist astronauts in their daily tasks and save their time; because time is the most valuable thing on the International Space Station." The German Space Center is set to conduct three one-hour tests to assess the robot's ability to assist astronauts in scientific research, including testing its camera performance and helping Alexander Gerst solve a Rubik's Cube. This robot will stay at the space station for about five and a half months and will return to Earth on December 13. Reuters reported, citing Matthias Biniok, that the design of this robot was inspired by a television series from the 1940s, in which a robot shaped like a human brain named "Professor Simon" acted as a guide for an astronaut named Captain Future. CIMON also bears similarities to "HAL," the intelligent computer from Stanley Kubrick's film "2001: A Space Odyssey." Philipp Schulin, a German engineer at Airbus who produced the robot's hardware, stated that enhancing astronauts' capabilities for future exploratory missions, including the planned trip to Mars set to begin in 2020, is very important. According to Mr. Schulin, one of the positive impacts of this robot, which can communicate with astronauts, is reducing the negative effects of long-term isolation experienced by astronauts. "Because astronauts who are isolated for long periods usually have reduced communication with Earth." Philipp Schulin believes that lack of focus is one of the issues astronauts may experience in space, but robots like CIMON, which have human-like features, can help mitigate that. This robot is part of approximately three thousand kilograms of cargo that was launched towards the space station on Friday with a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and is expected to arrive at the station on Monday.