Supermassive Black Hole A Star

Author notes

Ep. 36, Page 54

smbhax

on April 5, 2019

NASA is sending flying robots to the International Space Station. Shaped like cubes, with sides maybe about one foot in length, NASA is nevertheless calling them "bees"; they propel themselves with an embedded fan, and have a robotic arm.

The "bees" "can operate in either fully automated mode or under remote control by astronauts or researchers on Earth."

The remote control part seems potentially useful; in fact, there probably isn't a whole lot of reason for humans to be on the ISS at all—whatever tasks they do there could almost certainly be handled by adequate automation or remote monitoring and control. But putting citizens in space is big PR for national space programs, and gives we humans those warm fuzzy feelings, to get us all excited about space stuff.

I am less excited about the "fully automated mode" for the "bees." Do you really want giant flying bees trapped with you in your home, far from aid? I don't know if the people making these decisions at NASA have seen enough sci-fi movies, because we all know how these things end up going. : o