Astronauts Finally Pull Robonaut 2 Out Of Storage

Poor old R2 made the trek to the ISS aboard the space shuttle last month after being crammed inside his storage crate for months on end. R2 or Robonaut 2 as his full name goes is the robot built by NASA and GM to study the interaction of people in space with robots. GM is using the project to develop technology for more safety in vehicles and on assembly lines here on Earth.

After sitting in his box on the ISS since arriving at the space station, R2 was finally unboxed yesterday. Obama must be so happy right now. NASA is eager to see how R2 acts in no gravity. I hope that he doesn't go all Hector on them. Out of the box R2 may be, but it will still be months before he gets fired up and put to work.

NASA doesn't plan to turn R2 on until testing starts in May. When he is fired up in May R2 will not have legs. The legs aren't expected to arrive at the ISS until next year. That is assuming his legs are ready to go by then.

[via Plasticpals]