FEDOR is the acronym for Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research. That is the name of the Russian humanoid Robot, the only passenger of Russia’s Soyuz rocket. The robot resembles Vladimir Putin and carries a Russian flag. Unfortunately, the Russians suffered a setback since the rocket was unable to dock with the international space station. Not all experiments succeed the first time and this was no different. There will be another attempt to re-dock on Monday and, if successful, the robot will come face to face with astronauts who are now operating the space lab.

Right now, Fedor is floating in the Soyuz rocket some distance away from the ISS.

Daily Mail UK says the Russians attribute the failure to issues pertaining to the automatic docking system of the space lab. Mission control of the Russian space agency, Roskosmos, had invited journalists to watch the docking. However, the live feed stopped when the docking did not happen. NASA feels the failure could be because of the Russian spaceship rather than associated mechanisms of the ISS.

Fedor is a Russian humanoid robot

Russia wants to test out its humanoid robots, real-time.

They planned for Fedor to spend a few days at the space station. That way it would get an opportunity to interact with astronauts, extend support to the crew and simultaneously, test its skills. This exercise was a first for Russia and the Soyuz MS-14 spacecraft launched Skybot F-850.

Daily Mail UK says the robot is a six-footer and weighs 353 pounds.

It has accounts in a couple of social media platforms where it says – “it is learning new skills such as opening a bottle of water.” NASA had undertaken a similar exercise in 2011. It had sent a humanoid robot Robonaut 2 to work in hazardous environments. Incidentally, the ISS is a space lab set up jointly by the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada.

Its purpose is space research without boundaries.

Focus is on Artificial Intelligence

According to Independent UK, Russia is sending its humanoid robot to work alongside astronauts in the International Space Station. It should have joined others in the skylab but there has been a delay in its arrival. This is because the Soyuz spacecraft could not dock with the space lab due to technical problems. Obviously, Russia, like others, is placing stress on Artificial Intelligence which will play an important role in the field of space research. The Russian robot Fedor made its appearance in 2017. At that time, Dmitry Rogozin, deputy prime minister of Russia, shared videos of the robot. It was shooting targets, at a firing range, with deadly accuracy and the minister hastened to clarify that the Android was “not a Terminator.” Americans already have more than one robot on Mars and one of these is Curiosity. It has been active for more than five years.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED