A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the unmanned cargo toward the ISS on a delivery mission for NASA, the experimental robot Dubbed Cimon and is expected to reach its destination on Monday, Reuters reported.
A white tiny robot with an animated cartoon face has started its first journey the International Space Station (ISS) on boaonboardceX Falcon 9 rocket. The Cape Canaveral team wished Dubbed Cimon (Crew Interactive Mobile Companion) a safe reaching the ISS. The device weighs 5kg but in zero gravity it will float move around thanks to 14 internal fans, it is intended as an AI-based assistant for astronauts.
A new, spare hand for the station’s robotic arm, an experiment to measure plant stress in space and a study of a new cancer treatment also formed part of the cargo.
Cimon is an attempt to find out whether robots and astronauts can collaborate, the experimental robot is equipped with microphones and cameras that help it recognise Alexander Gerst, the German astronaut with whom it will work.
An “offline” button has been designed for Cimon, which allows Gerst to avoid having audio streamed to servers on Earth during moments of privacy.
The rocket whisking the bot on its way to Earth orbit took off from Nasa’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 05:42 Eastern time (10:42 BST). It was part of a cargo shipment weighing nearly 2.7 tonnes that includes food and water.
The cargo is contained in a Dragon capsule that will detach from the Falcon 9 and dock with the ISS on Monday.
“Right now our main mission is to support the astronauts with their daily tasks to save time, because time is the most valuable and most expensive thing on the ISS,”
IBM engineer Matthias Biniok told journalists.
