The International Space Station has an AI assistant. No ... it's not evil

There is a long history in sci-fi of robots accompanying humans in space. These robots' ambitions have run the gamut, from those that try to embrace their humanity (like Data from "Star Trek") to others that try to kill us (like HAL from "2001: A Space Odyssey"). But before we can know whether real-life robots will help us or turn on us in space, we have get them up there. Enter CIMON, short for Crew Interactive Mobile Companion. It arrived on the International Space Station on the back of a SpaceX rocket on Monday.