1 Aug 2019 17:12

FEDOR robot to be sent to ISS on Aug 22, Rogozin confirms to Putin

MOSCOW. Aug 1 (Interfax) - The anthropomorphic robot FEDOR will fly to the International Space Station (ISS) on August 22, Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin said at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"It's an anthropomorphic robot. We are sending it as an aide for the crew. The work was commissioned by the Foundation for Advanced Research and was carried out from 2012," Rogozin said.

The plan is to use the android in future to carry out dangerous work outside the ISS and to explore remote parts of outer space, he said.

"To date we have designed [it to function] in a copying mode [...] For the first time in the world on August 22 we're going to launch this machine, called Space Robot and for short Fyodor [FEDOR], which is an abbreviation [standing for Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research]," Rogozin said.

The robot will fully emulate the actions of a cosmonaut. Initially it will be controlled aboard the ISS and then directly from the Mission Control Center on the ground, he said.

"But in future we are planning for this machine to ensure our conquering of distant space too," Rogozin said.