<h2>Step Two</h2>
NASA just approved the preliminary designs for its Psyche spacecraft, which may move into construction next month.
Its mission? Explore a mysterious asteroid, also named Psyche, which scientists believe to be the metallic, volcanic core of a Mars-like planet that shattered in the early days of the Solar System.
<h2>First Contact</h2>
When Psyche the spacecraft launches, as <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/nasa-prepares-build-spacecraft-bound-metal-asteroid-180971987/">Smithsonian </a><a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/nasa-prepares-build-spacecraft-bound-metal-asteroid-180971987/">reports</a> it&#8217;s expected to do in 2022, scientists will have little clue what they will learn about Psyche the asteroid.
&#8220;The state of the art is profound ignorance about what we expect to find,&#8221; lead researcher Jim Bell told Smithsonian. &#8220;We are trying to prepare for any eventuality, no matter what it&#8217;s like. Our instruments will make interesting measurements, observations and discoveries that will allow us to put the history of that object back together.&#8221;
<h2>Some Guesses</h2>
One possibility is that Psyche could include slivers of mantle and other layers of the former planet hanging on. It may also be <a href="https://futurism.com/explosive-asteroids-volcanoes">pockmarked by volcanic craters</a> created when molten iron, suddenly exposed to the cold vacuum of space, froze over other layers of magma that then exploded outward.
&#8220;The idea is that Psyche might have retained much of its heat after the impact process that ripped off its mantle and crust,&#8221; Bell told Smithsonian. &#8220;On Psyche, we may be looking at a place where it’s mostly dominated by molten iron, or iron and nickel, and maybe sulfur. Maybe we will see evidence of that. Maybe there won’t be any at all. But it’s fun to speculate.&#8221;
READ MORE: <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/nasa-prepares-build-spacecraft-bound-metal-asteroid-180971987/">NASA Prepares to Build Spacecraft Bound for a Metal Asteroid</a> [Smithsonian]
More on volcanic asteroids: <a href="https://futurism.com/explosive-asteroids-volcanoes">Explosive Research: Some Asteroids May Have Had Volcanoes</a>

The asteroid Psyche may be the metallic core of a since-destroyed planet that once resembled Mars.

NASA is gearing up to visit a shattered, volcanic asteroid

Space Is Extremely Metal

NASA approved the preliminary designs of a spacecraft expected to visit the asteroid Psyche in 2022. When it gets there, NASA won't know what to expect.

NASA Is Gearing up to Visit a Shattered, Volcanic Asteroid

NASA is getting ready to visit a leftover fragment from the core of a destroyed planet.

<h2>Explosive Demonstration</h2>
Last month, India demonstrated its capabilities as a spacefaring nation and drew international criticism when it <a href="https://futurism.com/india-just-shot-down-a-live-satellite">used a missile</a> to blew up one of its own satellites.
The launch happened to coincide with Lockheed Martin&#8217;s test run of a new space monitoring technology called the Space Fence, which can detect and track any unregistered objects orbiting the Earth. <a href="https://spacenews.com/indian-anti-satellite-test-proves-early-test-for-space-fence/">According to Space News</a>, that was a stroke of luck that could mitigate damage to people and equipment in space.
<h2>Picket Fence</h2>
The satellite explosion essentially turned the satellite into a <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-indias-satellite-endangered-astronauts">cloud of space debris</a>, which could in the future collide with other satellites, scientific instruments, or astronauts in orbit around the Earth — remember &#8220;Gravity&#8221;?
&#8220;We happened to be up during an endurance test and we were very excited to see that the system performed nominally,&#8221; Matthew Hughes, Lockheed Martin business development manager, told Space News. &#8220;Space fence is all about the ability to identify break ups, maneuvers, closely spaced objects, proximity operations, new foreign launches.&#8221;
While Space Fence isn&#8217;t an actual blockade in space, it can at least help officials prepare for and plan around collisions.
READ MORE: <a href="https://spacenews.com/indian-anti-satellite-test-proves-early-test-for-space-fence/">Indian anti-satellite test proves early test for Space Fence</a> [Space News]
More on India&#8217;s Satellite: <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-indias-satellite-endangered-astronauts">NASA: When India Blew up a Satellite, it Endangered Astronauts</a>

"We happened to be up during an endurance test and we were very excited to see that the system performed nominally."

India blew up a satellite. Now a "space fence" is tracking its debris

Not A Real Fence

When India blew up a satellite, it introduced a lot of debris into orbit. Lockheed Martin's experimental Space Fence is keeping an eye on it.

India Blew up a Satellite. Now A “Space Fence” Is Tracking Its Debris

Lockheed Martin's experimental tech is monitoring the satellite fragments.

<h2>Mars Colony</h2>
It sounds like the premise to a young adult novel: a totalitarian government sends its kids to a special facility to train them for life on Mars. But this strange project isn&#8217;t fictional — it&#8217;s China&#8217;s C-Space base.
&#8220;We are trying to come up with solutions,&#8221; C-Space founder Bai Fan <a href="https://www.afp.com/en/news/826/small-step-china-mars-base-teens-opens-desert-doc-1fo65y3">told AFP</a> of the project, adding that &#8220;the base is still on [Earth], it&#8217;s not on Mars, but we have chosen a landform that matches closest to Mars.&#8221;
<h2>Space Camp</h2>
At the high-tech space camp, according to AFP, the teens will wear mock space suits while they explore the Mars-esque landscape of the Qaidam Basin.
But as China preps for a Mars rover mission expected to launch as <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-mars-spacecraft-launch-2020-rover-sample-return-2019-1">soon as next year</a>, at least one academic says the C-Space simulated Mars base is silly and bears little resemblance to a genuine base on the Red Planet — especially if, as planned, it opens to the public as a tourist destination with a themed restaurant.
&#8220;From the very beginning, I&#8217;ve been opposed to this,&#8221; Peking University professor Jiao Weixin told AFP. &#8220;Tourism doesn&#8217;t make much sense&#8230; what is the meaning in it?&#8221;
READ MORE: <a href="https://www.afp.com/en/news/826/small-step-china-mars-base-teens-opens-desert-doc-1fo65y3">A small step for China: Mars base for teens opens in desert</a> [AFP]
More on China&#8217;s simulated Mars base: <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/mars-simulation-base-china-open">China Opens Its First Mars Simulation Base</a>

"From the very beginning, I've been opposed to this."

China is sending teens to a simulated Mars colony

Mars High

It sounds like the premise to a young adult novel: a totalitarian government sends its kids to a special facility to train them for life at a Mars colony.

China Is Sending Teens to a Simulated Mars Colony

The teens will wear mock space suits while they explore the Mars-esque landscape of the Qaidam Basin.

<h2>Down In Front</h2>
When scientists released the first-ever <a href="https://futurism.com/scientists-release-first-image-black-hole">image of a black hole</a> last week, people immediately began asking why astronomers chose to focus on M87*, a black hole in a distant galaxy, instead of the one in the center of our home Milky Way.
For that, we may have to thank a Manhattan-sized, ultra-dense neutron star, also known as a magnetar, that&#8217;s blocking the view, <a href="https://www.livescience.com/65259-black-hole-photobomb.html">according to Live Science</a>.
<h2>Perfect Timing</h2>
Back in 2013, astronomers were working to observe the supermassive black hole at the Milky Way&#8217;s center — known as Sagittarius A* — when the magnetar suddenly flared up, totally blocking the black hole.
&#8220;Initially, the big excitement was, &#8216;Holy cow, SagA* just went nuts!'&#8221; McGill astronomer Daryl Haggard told Live Science. &#8220;It would have been the brightest flare we&#8217;d ever seen from the supermassive black hole.&#8221;
<h2>Enhance! Enhance!</h2>
It wasn&#8217;t until a few days later that an orbital telescope called the Chandra X-Ray Observatory was able to take high-resolution recordings that showed that it was the neutron star, not the black hole, that had sent out the burst.
&#8220;Depending on your perspective, it was either a complete pain or a completely awesome new discovery,&#8221; Taggard told Live Science.
The magnetar has since faded, and more telescopes are able to see it and the black hole as separate entities. But all the same, the star&#8217;s unfortunate timing demonstrates just how dependent our attempts to study the cosmos are on a cooperative universe.
READ MORE: <a href="https://www.livescience.com/65259-black-hole-photobomb.html">There&#8217;s a Tiny, Bright Magnetar Photobombing Our Galaxy&#8217;s Supermassive Black Hole</a> [Live Science]
More on the black hole image: <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/big-m87-black-hole-compared-the-earth">Here&#8217;s How Big the M87 Black Hole is Compared to the Earth</a>

A city-sized star is blocking the view of our galaxy's black hole

Celestial Photobomb

In 2013, scientists were in the middle of studying the black hole at the center of the galaxy when a neutron star flared up and blocked their view.

A City-Sized Star Is Blocking the View of Our Galaxy’s Black Hole

Hey, down in front!

<h2>Silver Lining</h2>
When Beresheet, the lunar lander built by the Israel-based company SpaceIL, <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/beresheet-lunar-lander-crashed">crashed into the Moon</a>, it was carrying more than the hopes and dreams of the first private company to reach the Moon.
It also happened to be shuttling a small piece of NASA equipment. But the device may have survived the crash, <a href="https://www.space.com/did-nasa-experiment-survive-beresheet-crash.html">according to Space.com</a> — a remarkable testament to the hardiness of the space agency&#8217;s equipment.
<h2>Search and Rescue</h2>
In a serendipitous twist, the device — called a Lunar Retroreflector Array (LRA) — happens to function as a sort of beacon. The spherical gadget, full of cubic quartz mirrors, is meant to help guide spacecraft into precise landings, sort of like the lights illuminating an airport runway. That means that NASA scientists could feasibly go find it in a followup mission.
&#8220;Yes, we believe the laser reflector array would have survived the crash, although it may have separated from the main spacecraft body,&#8221; MIT scientist David Smith told Space.com. &#8220;Of course, we do not know the orientation of the array. It could be upside down, but it has a 120-degree angle of reception, and we only need 1 of the 0.5-inch cubes for detection. But it has certainly not made it any easier.&#8221;
READ MORE: <a href="https://www.space.com/did-nasa-experiment-survive-beresheet-crash.html">Did NASA Experiment Survive Israeli Moon Lander&#8217;s Crash?</a> [Space.com]
More on Beresheet: <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/failed-moon-landing-israel-beresheet-2">After Failed Moon Landing, Israel Vows to Try Again</a>

"Of course, we do not know the orientation of the array."

Incredibly tough NASA sensor may have survived Moon lander crash

Bring Him Home

NASA was using Beresheet to send a small beacon to the Moon. Beresheet crashed, but the beacon may have survived, and NASA wants to go find it.

Incredibly Tough NASA Sensor May Have Survived Moon Lander Crash

Scientists are planning to hunt down the missing device.

<h2>Falcon Heavy Landing</h2>
The booster for a SpaceX Falcon Heavy successfully landed after a mission — but then stormy weather toppled the booster into the roiling ocean.
Other than that minor hiccup, the mission was a success, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/16/tech/spacex-falcon-heavy-center-booster/index.html">according to CNN</a>. The Falcon Heavy launched on Thursday and carried a satellite for a Saudi Arabian TV network into space, and afterward all three <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-lands-three-falcon-heavy-boosters">boosters landed successfully</a>.
&#8220;As conditions worsened with eight to ten foot swells, the booster began to shift and ultimately was unable to remain upright,&#8221; SpaceX told the network. &#8220;While we had hoped to bring the booster back intact, the safety of our team always takes precedence. We do not expect future missions to be impacted.&#8221;
<h2>Reuse, Recycle</h2>
Elon Musk is, <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1118017021612937216">per his Twitter</a>, investigating whether the damaged booster can be recovered.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Engines seem ok, pending inspection
&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1118017021612937216?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 16, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Typically, SpaceX reuses boosters from mission to mission to cut down on manufacturing costs — so the company is particularly incentivized to get this one back up and running too.
READ MORE: <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/16/tech/spacex-falcon-heavy-center-booster/index.html">SpaceX landed its three Falcon Heavy boosters without flaw. Then a stormy sea knocked one of them down</a> [CNN]
More on SpaceX: <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-lands-three-falcon-heavy-boosters">SpaceX Milestone: Company Lands Three Falcon Heavy Boosters</a>

SpaceX landed a Falcon Heavy booster. Then it fell into the sea.

Rough Waters

SpaceX successfully landed three Falcon Heavy boosters last week. But stormy weather had a different plan for them, and one fell into the water.

SpaceX Landed a Falcon Heavy Booster. Then It Fell Into the Sea.

Otherwise, everything went just fine.

<h2>Another One</h2>
When scientists first detected the comet &#8216;Oumuamua in 2017, it dominated the news cycle as the first interstellar object that we&#8217;ve seen pass through our solar system.
But new research suggests that &#8216;Oumuamua wasn&#8217;t the first interstellar visitor at all. In fact, another one like it may have impacted Earth back in 2014, <a href="https://www.space.com/second-interstellar-object-a-meteor-discovery.html">according to Space.com</a>.
<h2>Unusual Trajectory</h2>
The new research hasn’t yet been published, but it&#8217;s available on the <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/1904.07224">preprint server ArXiv</a> as of Monday. In it, Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb — the same dude who doubled down on the idea that &#8216;Oumuamua <a href="https://futurism.com/alien-probe-harvard-astronomer-oumuamua">could be an alien spacecraft</a> — suggests that a three-foot-wide interstellar meteor flew over Papa New Guinea&#8217;s Manus Island before crashing down.
Because of the meteor&#8217;s high speed and particular trajectory past Earth, Loeb and his student Amir Suraj suggest that it couldn&#8217;t have been bound in an orbit about the Sun. Rather, they argue, it might have come from somewhere beyond our solar system.
<h2>Small Crowd</h2>
Suraj and Lobe pored over three decades&#8217; worth of data from NASA&#8217;s database of objects that pass near Earth to look for other meteors with similarly-unusual trajectories. They only found one other that may have originated from outside the solar system — but now that they&#8217;ve developed the new technique, scientists may be able to keep an eye out going forward.
&#8220;We can use the atmosphere of the Earth as the detector for these meteors, which are too small to otherwise see,&#8221; Loeb told Space.com.
READ MORE: <a href="https://www.space.com/second-interstellar-object-a-meteor-discovery.html">The First Known Interstellar Meteor May Have Hit Earth in 2014</a> [Space.com]
More on &#8216;Oumuamua: <a href="https://futurism.com/interstellar-rocks-form-earth">Interstellar Visitor Like ‘Oumuamua May Have Formed Earth’s Core</a>

"We can use the atmosphere of the Earth as the detector for these meteors, which are too small to otherwise see."

An interstellar rock like 'Oumuamua may have hit Earth in 2014

Under Attack

Harvard astronomers found evidence that 'Oumuamua isn't the only interstellar visitor we've had in recent years. Others may have crashed into the Earth.

An Interstellar Rock Like ‘Oumuamua May Have Hit Earth In 2014

The Harvard professor who says 'Oumuamua might have been an alien ship says something like it hit Earth a few years ago.

<h2>Taurus in Donut</h2>
Astrology doesn’t have to be real for it to attract real money.
In recent months, astrology startups offering apps and subscription services have raised quite a bit of money from venture capitalists and other big-money investors, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/15/style/astrology-apps-venture-capital.html">reports The New York Times</a>, with some apps raising millions in recent funding rounds — a strange collision between the analytical world of finance and the superstitious one of horoscopes.
<h2>Venus in Retrospect</h2>
Many of these astrology apps do well with millennial-targeted marketing campaigns, offering free horoscopes then charging for other services like one-on-one consultations, or generating birth charts — personality readings based on the position of celestial bodies at the point in time someone was born — for users and their friends, The Times reports.
Astrology&#8217;s place in the realm of pseudoscience hasn&#8217;t scared off investors or startup entrepreneurs — what matters more, in our futuristic attention economy, is that people are interested and regularly engage with the apps.
<h2>Juno In Paige</h2>
Often, astrologists market themselves in the same vein as wellness or meditation apps. Meanwhile, one such app called Co-Star is drawing attention to the underlying science — of the app, not astrology — like using <a href="https://futurism.com/nasa-studying-mars-class-clown">NASA data</a> to track stars and planets.
&#8220;It probably has this aura of being unscientific or whatever,&#8221; investor Anarghya Vadhana told The Times, adding that Co-Star founder Banu Guler &#8220;did a really good job of understanding all of that and rooting it in as much science as possible.&#8221;
READ MORE: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/15/style/astrology-apps-venture-capital.html">Venture Capital Is Putting Its Money Into Astrology</a> [The New York Times]
More on space: <a href="https://futurism.com/weigh-galaxy-dark-matter">A New Trick Lets Us Weigh The Galaxy. It’s The First Step Toward Figuring Out What It’s Made Of</a>

Mars is in retrospect, but Venus is in peppercorn.

Venture capital firms are pouring money into astrology

Lucrative Pseudoscience

Recently, venture capital firms have invested heavily in astrology apps and companies that are benefitting from cultural popularity.

Venture Capital Firms Are Pouring Money Into Astrology

Astrology apps are a hot commodity in the venture capital world.

<h2>Fizzing-Out</h2>
Recall the Pepsi slogan of yore: &#8220;<a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/517ca144e4b065cfbf618485/5191e946e4b0576d48b62550/5191e948e4b0fc2bec6e9f4a/1368516938471/Pepsi_Working_0007_OOH_Joy1.jpg">Refresh Everything</a>.&#8221; Apparently, that also includes the truth!
On Saturday, Futurism <a href="https://futurism.com/pepsi-orbital-billboard-night-sky/">broke a story</a> about Pepsi&#8217;s plans to use a space billboard sponsored by one of its energy drinks to protest against what it claimed were stereotypes unfair to gamers. But by Monday, after an outpouring of anger about the project on social media, PepsiCo — which owns brands ranging from Frito-Lay to Tropicana — had changed its tune about the project, saying the plans would go no further than a stratospheric test it recently carried out to try out the technology.
&#8220;This was a one-time event; we have no further plans to test or commercially use this technology at this time,&#8221; a PepsiCo spokesperson <a href="https://gizmodo.com/pepsi-mercifully-spares-humanity-from-its-space-billboa-1834057634">told Gizmodo</a>.
Except, here&#8217;s the thing:
They did.
<h2>The Pepsi Difference</h2>
A press release sent to Futurism last week by Russian space company StartRocket tells a different story than the one Pepsi&#8217;s pouring today. In it, StartRocket claimed the stratospheric test with a balloon was just a prelude to an ambitious space billboard — on which its first advertising client would be PepsiCo&#8217;s Adrenaline Rush energy drink.
&#8220;Adrenaline Rush (owned by PepsiCo Russia) became the test launch partner,&#8221; it read. &#8220;The Adrenaline GameChangers logo — a newly created movement whose goal is to campaign against stereotypes and unjustified prejudices against gamers — will be the first branded image on the StartRocket orbital display after its launch.&#8221;
And on Friday, when a Futurism reporter asked Russian PepsiCo spokesperson Olga Mangova whether it was accurate that the company was working with StartRocket to advertise Adrenaline Rush on StartRocket&#8217;s orbital billboard, the response was unambiguous.
&#8220;Nice to meet you!&#8221; Mangova wrote in an email. &#8220;Yes, that’s true.&#8221;
<h2>Pepsi Free</h2>
Asked about its apparent flip flop on the space billboard collaboration with StartRocket, PepsiCo spokesperson Nicole Tronolone said there&#8217;d been a miscommunication, speculating that there had been a &#8220;language issue&#8221; with Russian PepsiCo employees.
&#8220;The PepsiCo position has not reversed; it was inaccurately communicated,&#8221; Tronolone told Futurism in an email.
Tronolone declined to comment on why the press release from StartRocket said the display would be in orbit and why it referred to the space billboard in the future tense.
Mangova said that the press release had been written before the stratospheric test with the balloon, but sent to media afterward. Mangova declined to say why part of the press release was written in the past tense and another part was written in the future tense, and also declined to say why it would call a balloon test an &#8220;orbital display.&#8221;
Asked whether it was true that PepsiCo had never planned to launch the orbital billboard, StartRocket spokesperson Nikita Belov seemed puzzled by PepsiCo&#8217;s evolving stance.
&#8220;Unfortunately, I can’t prove or disprove it because of lack of information,&#8221; she wrote in an email to Futurism.
When it comes to advertising, Pepsi hasn&#8217;t exactly piloted the last few years with any kind of finesse. You may recall that time they made an ad with one of the biggest celebrities on Earth, implying that social unrest and police-state violence can be resolved with a cold can of Pepsi? If you don&#8217;t, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_for_Now_(Pepsi)">here&#8217;s the Wikipedia page</a> on what&#8217;s been referred to as &#8220;<a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/pepsi-ad-advert-commercial-kendall-jenner-police-protest-black-lives-matter-review-a7667486.html">possibly the worst commercial of all time</a>.&#8221;
So, yeah: this tracks.
<h2>Recovering the Satellites</h2>
Futurism first reported on the existence of StartRocket back in January. Its collaboration with Pepsi wasn&#8217;t yet public, but the story launched a wave of backlash against the concept on social media — and in media outlets ranging from <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/space-billboards-are-just-the-latest-orbital-stunt/">Wired</a> to <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/startup-wants-put-huge-ads-space-not-everyone-board-idea-ncna960296">NBC News</a>.
As Futurism readers pointed out on social media, futuristic ads that appear among the stars of the night sky have been suggested by science fiction authors including Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clark, and Doug Naylor.
It was even tried in real life once before, in 1993, when a Georgia company called Space Marketing proposed launching a similar project that would be visible to billions of people as it cruised across the night sky — prompting cosmologist Carl Sagan to call the idea an &#8220;abomination.&#8221;
In the end, perhaps nothing can stop the relentless force of marketing. In <a href="https://astronomy.com/news/2019/04/pepsi-partners-with-russian-start-up-to-test-orbiting-billboards">an interview</a> with the magazine Astronomy about Pepsi&#8217;s flip flop on space billboards, director of conservation for the International Dark-Sky Association John Barentine argued that some form of orbital advertising is probably unavoidable.
&#8220;I think it is inevitable that someone will do this,&#8221; Barentine said. &#8220;They will take the gamble that even a negative public reaction will still benefit the bottom line.&#8221;
&#8220;There’s not a lot that can be done,&#8221; he added, &#8220;other than heaping scorn upon the companies that might advertise with the satellite owners.&#8221;
READ MORE: <a href="https://astronomy.com/news/2019/04/pepsi-partners-with-russian-start-up-to-test-orbiting-billboards">PepsiCo partnered with a Russian start-up to test orbiting billboards</a> [Astronomy]
More on orbital billboards: <a href="https://futurism.com/pepsi-orbital-billboard-night-sky">Pepsi Plans to Project a Giant Ad in the Night Sky Using Cubesats</a>

After backlash, Pepsi says it never planned a space billboard

Space Disgrace

After an outpouring of anger about the project on social media, PepsiCo no longer says it plans to launch a space billboard.

After Backlash, Pepsi Says It Never Planned a Space Billboard

PepsiCo keeps changing its story about its plans for a space billboard.

<h2>Balloon Animals</h2>
NASA is investing in robots that do away with hard metal chassis and instead navigate by rapidly inflating and deflating air-filled sacs.
Scientists from Brigham Young University teamed up with the startup Pneubotics to build an inflatable robot named King Louie, <a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/robotics-hardware/inflatable-robots-for-space">according to IEEE Spectrum</a>. The robot looks sort of like a Rock &#8216;Em Sock &#8216;Em Robot crossbred with a Bobo Doll — but its slightly unnerving appearance could be worth the benefits that NASA expects inflatable bots to bring to space missions.
<h2>Floppy Drive</h2>
Inflatable robots could serve as a lightweight, space-efficient alternative to metallic robots or <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasas-insight-lander-just-flexed-its-arm-to-take-some-more-pictures">robotic arms</a> on NASA&#8217;s rovers, shuttles, or space stations, IEEE Spectrum reports.
But there are still some hurdles to overcome, most notably the fact that the floppy robots find themselves in slightly different orientations each time they&#8217;re deflated and blown up again.
<iframe width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pjx9m5mONrE?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<h2>Blowing Up</h2>
Those slight differences can make it difficult to program the robot&#8217;s limbs as one would a metal robot. But the Brigham Young scientists found a way to guide and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTCRr63bpeM">train the robot&#8217;s movements</a> so that it learns how high or far to reach no matter the slight variations caused by being inflated.
King Louie isn&#8217;t ready for blastoff quite yet, but as it gets better at controlling its bulk, astronauts may soon get a floppy, air-filled helping hand.
READ MORE: <a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/robotics-hardware/inflatable-robots-for-space">Inflatable Robots Are Destined for Space, If We Can Control Them</a> [IEEE Spectrum]
More on NASA Robots: <a href="https://futurism.com/interview-nasa-insight-robotic-arm">Here’s How NASA Dreams up Robotic Arms for Landers</a>

"King Louie" may someday flop its way up into space.

NASA is building inflatable robot astronauts

Long May It Reign

NASA is paying a team of scientists to build an inflatable robot that can move and grasp things by selectively inflating chambers that act like muscles.

/Space