Robonaut 2 is the International Space Station's friendly 300-pound killbot android assistant. It's there to assist the team with science experiments and probably capture alien life at the expense of the crew. After being fitted with more heat-sinks to enable its delicate machinery to work for longer, it was given the job of monitoring the on-board air velocity to ensure the humans didn't choke to death. Since it doesn't have legs (they're still being built on the ground), it was only able to monitor the air in the Destiny Laboratory, but the test proved so successful that NASA hopes future robots will take over the more dangerous or mundane elements of space work -- at least until they become self-aware and unionize.

Continue reading NASA's Robonaut 2 shown pushing buttons, firing lasers on the ISS (video)

NASA's Robonaut 2 shown pushing buttons, firing lasers on the ISS (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 Jun 2012 16:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.