Robonaut 2 Gets Packed Away Into A Case For Trip To ISS

I mentioned not too long ago that Robonaut 2 would be blasting off to head to the ISS aboard the space shuttle this fall. Robonaut will be used to study the interaction between humans and robots in space along with Tweeting the trip robot style.

Engineers at NASA have been working on how to get R2 to the ISS without any damage in a way that will be easy to unpack for astronauts while aboard the ISS. The NASA team decided to attach the torso of R2 to a rack minus his legs and then pack that all away inside a box lined with cut foam blocks that will support the robot.

As NASA geeks are prone to do the box for R2 got its own acronym – Sleepr – standing for Structural Launch Enclosure to Effectively Protect Robonaut. R2 is expected to become a permanent part of the ISS, presumably that means it will not be returning unless it needs to go back to Earth for repairs.