Taking satellites to the operating theatre

We all know how hard it is the existing problem of a satellite stopping working to solve, as there's nearly no way of fixing it, especially now that the space shuttle has been retired. But some engineers at Johns Hopkins University have had a bright idea and they have it successfully applied using a remotely controlled robot as part of a NASA research grant program.

This happened two weeks ago and was carried out by students Tian Xia and Jonathan Bohren by using a modified Da Vinci medical use intended robot to manipulate another robot.

“The long-range goal is to be able to manipulate a space robot like this from any location to refuel satellites, for instance,” Bohren said. “A lot of satellites have the potential to have their lives extended if we can do that.”

Though this is a wonderful opportunity to save millions of dollars as we'll be able to repair the satellites instead of sending new ones and to reduce the space junk, there are still some constraints to be solved; for instance, how to take this complex robot to where the satellite is and arrive to where the breakdown is.

Further information can be found here.

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