Originally intended as a rescue robot for emergencies, humanoid robot Fedor, or "Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research," was instead co-opted by Roscomos, the Russian space agency, in 2019. Its mission: to test a new emergency rescue system aboard a Soyuz 2.1a rocket, a dicey setting that's better for Fedor to handle than a human being. It would learn how to connect and disconnect electric cables using "standard items from a screwdriver and a spanner to a fire extinguisher," according to Alexander Bloshenko, the Russian space agency's director. Fedor was to fly to the International Space Station, where it would be an astronaut assistant, especially on risky spacewalks. Once it got to the International Space Station, however, it quickly became clear that Fedor's long legs and clumsy hands were not suitable for space walks or grabbing handrails in zero gravity. So its mission was aborted, but Roscomos plans to improve on Fedor's design for a potential future mission.

We were used to hearing that we'll be out of a job in twenty years, because of robots. Then the virus came, and now many are out of a job a bit faster, and not because of anything more intelligent or capable than themselves. Here are five currently existing robots that score pretty high on the creepiness scale, even without threatening to take away one's job. Sophia has somehow become the flagship of humanoid robotics. Constructed in Hong Kong, it has taken part in major TV talk shows and has been granted Saudi Arabian citizenship, although it is, essentially, not more than a "chatbot with a face" [1]. What the citizenship thing really means is unclear: Can Sophia vote?

When the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) sends its first astronaut into space, it won't have to worry about building her a spacesuit. Vyommitra is a half-humanoid robot that ISRO plans to send to space this December during a bid to successfully land an unmanned spacecraft on the moon. In September, the space agency tried--and failed--to touch down on the lunar surface when its Vikram lander experienced a braking problem. If Vikram had landed safely, India would have been the fourth country to land on the moon, following Russia, the U.S., and China. This time around, as part of India's next space mission, Vyommitra will sit in the Gaganyaan spacecraft, which is equipped to fit up to three humans.

Russia on Thursday launched an unmanned rocket carrying a life-size humanoid robot that will spend 10 days learning to assist astronauts on the International Space Station. Named Fedor, short for Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research, the robot is the first ever sent up by Russia. Fedor blasted off in a Soyuz MS-14 spacecraft at 6:38 am Moscow time (0338 GMT) from Russia's Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Soyuz is set to dock with the space station on Saturday and stay till September 7. Soyuz ships are normally manned on such trips, but on Thursday no humans are travelling in order to test a new emergency rescue system. Instead of cosmonauts, Fedor, also known as Skybot F850, was strapped into a specially adapted pilot's seat, with a small Russian flag in hand.

Russia likes to boast of its robots - but at the same time it seems to have a somewhat troubled relationship with them. It has endured a series of very public robotic mishaps, but all is not lost. Amid much fanfare and praise for the Roscosmos space agency, Russian robot Fedor was launched into space on board a Soyuz 14 spacecraft in August. Fedor made history as the first such robot ever to be sent into space by Russia, and within moments he was reporting on his progress and all was apparently going to plan.But then, mission control in Houston broke the news that Fedor's attempt to dock with the International Space Station (ISS) had to be aborted because of a technical problem. To be fair to Fedor, he was not to blame. Despite state media touting him as a major breakthrough, and other incorrect reports suggesting that he was piloting the spacecraft, he did little but talk.

MOSCOW – It's mission over for a robot called Fedor that Russia blasted to the International Space Station, the developers said Wednesday, admitting he could not replace astronauts on spacewalks. There's nothing more for him to do there, he's completed his mission," Yevgeny Dudorov, executive director of robot developers Androidnaya Tekhnika, told RIA Novosti news agency. The silvery anthropomorphic robot cannot fulfill its assigned task to replace human astronauts on long and risky space walks, Dudorov said. Fedor -- short for Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research -- was built to assist space station astronauts. A storm of publicity surrounded Fedor's space odyssey and provided some light relief for Russia's beleaguered space industry. In the last year it has seen the unprecedented failure of a manned launch and continuing delays on construction of the Vostochny spacepad where President Vladimir Putin upbraided officials last week. But Fedor turned out to have a design that does not work well in space -- standing 180 centimeters (six feet) tall, its long legs were not needed on space walks, Dudorov said. The Russian space agency said the legs were immobilized during the trip and Fedor was not programmed to grab space station hand rails to move about in microgravity. Dudorov said developers were sketching out plans for a replacement "that must suit the demands of working on the outside of the ship." Fedor, officially Skybot F-850, rocketed to the ISS on Aug. 22, entering the orbiting laboratory five days later. On the station, the robot posed holding a Russian flag and for hugs with cosmonauts who were assigned to train it before touching down back on Earth on Monday. A final tweet posted in an account in the robot's name said: "Now I'm in my case.

Russia's pioneering humanoid robot Fedor has started assisting astronauts on board the International Space Station. Video footage reveals the six-foot tall robot holding a towel and a drill before handing the power tool to an astronaut. The robot was sent into space to learn new skills so that it and others like it can carry out dangerous operations instead of astronauts, such as space walks. Fedor, the nickname of the pioneering robot, stands at six foot tall, weighs 353 pounds and can perform complex movements by mimicking a human on Earth. Roscosmos hopes it will help astronauts carry out tasks remotely.

An unmanned spacecraft carrying Russia's first humanoid robot to be sent into orbit failed to dock at the International Space Station on Saturday, in a new setback for Moscow. "Russian cosmonauts issued a command to abort the automated approach of an uncrewed Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station," the US space agency NASA said in a statement. "The craft was unable to lock onto its target at the station," and "backed a safe distance away from the orbital complex while the Russian flight controllers assess the next steps," NASA said. Russian flight controllers had told the ISS crew it appeared the problem that prevented automated docking was in the station and not the Soyuz spacecraft, NASA added. The docking had been scheduled for 0530 GMT but a live broadcast of the event on the website of the Russian space agency Roscosmos was interrupted when the Soyuz approached to about 100 metres (yards) off the ISS.

A humanoid robot sent by Russia's Vladimir Putin to the International Space Station (ISS) has failed to dock. A live stream of the six-foot Fedor robot - strapped in the pilot seat of the Soyuz spacecraft while wielding a Russia's white, blue and red flag - had to be interrupted with the humanoid still 100 meters away, news agency AFP reported. Fedor, an artificially intelligent robot known officially as Skybot F-850, was on an automated and unmanned mission to the space station, where he is supposed to help out crews for ten days. He is said to be the first humanoid sent to space by Russia. Having failed its landing at 05:30 BST on Saturday, Fedor will now have to wait until Monday to try reaching the ISS again.

A humanoid robot sent by Russia's Vladimir Putin to the International Space Station (ISS) has failed to dock. A live stream of the six-foot Fedor robot - strapped in the pilot seat of the Soyuz spacecraft while wielding a Russia's white, blue and red flag - had to be interrupted with the humanoid still 100 meters away, news agency AFP reported. Fedor, an artificially intelligent robot known officially as Skybot F-850, was on an automated and unmanned mission to the space station, where he is supposed to help out crews for ten days. He is said to be the first humanoid sent to space by Russia. Having failed its landing at 05:30 BST on Saturday, Fedor will now have to wait until Monday to try reaching the ISS again.