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.