"I can be a companion of the astronauts, recognize them and respond to their queries."

Meet Vyommitra

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has unveiled a legless robot called "Voymmitra" that it wants to send into space on an uncrewed mission later this year. The eerily humanoid robot can reportedly speak two languages, according to Business Insider.

"Vyommitra will simulate human functions, will interact with the environmental control and life-support system," ISRO chairman K Sivan told the Times of India. "Our robot is like a human, and will be able to do what man can do, although not as extensively," Sivan added.

Gaganyaan 2022

The humanoid will be launched on the first uncrewed test flight of India's planned Gaganyaan crewed orbital spacecraft.

"I can be a companion of the astronauts, recognize them and respond to their queries," Vyommitra can be heard saying in a clip uploaded to Twitter.

But its own movement will be limited.

"It's called a half humanoid because it doesn't have legs," ISRO scientist Sam Dayal told India Today. "It can only bend side wards and forward."

The Humanoids

The mission is part of India's greater ambitions to send Indian astronauts to space by 2022 — if all goes according to plan — first announced by prime minister Narendra Modi in 2018.

It wouldn't be the first time a nation has sent a humanoid robot into space. Russia sent its gunslinging humanoid robot FEDOR to the International Space Station in August.

READ MORE: Meet Vyommitra, the legless female humanoid robot India's sending to space [CNET]

More on humanoid robots in space: Russia’s Working on a Lunar Rover With a Humanoid Torso


Share This Article