SpaceX sends 'Flying Brain' AI Robot for astronauts in ISS
New Delhi : SpaceX, an American aerospace company blasted off a ball-shaped artificial intelligence robot "flying brain" towards the International Space Station on Friday. The Al robot is trained to follow and interact with a German astronaut in the outer space.
Also, 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 were also on board as the Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida at 5:42am (3:12pm IST).
"We have ignition and liftoff! The Falcon 9 rocket powers the Dragon spacecraft toward the International Space Station," said a NASA commentator as the white rocket lifted up the skies on a dark morning.
The unmanned Dragon capsule carried 5,900 pounds (2,700 kilograms) on its 15th supply mission to the orbiting lab, as part of a $1.6 billion (roughly Rs. 11,000 crores) contract with NASA.
About 10 minutes into the flight, SpaceX confirmed that the Dragon has successfully deployed from the rocket's second stage and was in a "good orbit." It should arrive at the International Space Station on July 2.
One major attraction in the cargo is a basketball-sized device called CIMON, shortened from Crew Interactive MObile CompanioN.
It has been described as a "flying brain" by Manfred Jaumann, head of microgravity payloads at Airbus
The goal for this flight is mainly to demonstrate the technology works.
The flying CIMON robot should be able to guide through various science procedures, showing videos or pictures as needed.
CIMON robot is equipped with a microphone on back, an infrared camera on the front, two batteries, and perhaps most importantly, an "offline" button.
Once toggled to "offline," mode scientists can be sure nothing they are saying is streamed down to the IBM server on Earth. Once back on, voice recordings can be activated again.
