Tour Of Duty

Russia’s Gun-Shooting Robot Is Heading to the Space Station

The Russian robo-astronaut looks brutal as heck.
Russia is sending a semi-autonomous, gun-savvy robot to the International Space Station next Thursday. They hope the Russian bot will help build Moon bases.
Image: EPA via Daily Mail

Space Soldier

The Russian space agency, Roscosmos, just unveiled test footage of a semi-autonomous robot named Fedor that will be sent up to the International Space Station next Thursday.

The robot, which was previously shown aiming and firing guns in a 2017 video, is expected to help Russia develop and construct future bases and settlements on the Moon or other planets, according to Daily Mail. If its stint in space goes well, the humanoid robot could help pave the way for humans to settle the cosmos.

Human Assist

Fedor is capable of handling some specific tasks autonomously, but a human operator back on Earth will help it along the way. The robot is programmed to mimic the movements of a human wearing a sort of exoskeleton-turned-remote control.

But left to its own devices, Fedor can target and grab objects, right itself when it falls over, and, in the above video, pass the time by doing some push-ups — it remains to be seen which of those skills will be most useful in outer space.

READ MORE: Putin’s robo-nauts prepare for lift-off: Russia’s space agency releases eerie footage of human-like android Fedor as he gets ready to board the International Space Station crew next week [Daily Mail]

More on space settlements: Elon Musk: Mars City Could Cost up to $10 Trillion

Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.