Long ago, in a distant time, a robot walked the labs of NASA. Over the years, the intelligent android simply wasn’t suited for the task at hand. The machine was left to contemplate it’s objectives in a pile of dust at an old Maryland warehouse. “I’ll be back” it promised. While the android hasn’t exactly fulfilled its Terminator promise, it’s mechanical spirit lives on in Google’s new lookalike creation.
NASA ROBOT A FAILED CATASROPE
NASA’s robot had once shown so much promise. It could lift its legs, raise its arms, run in place and even shake hands. The hydraulically powered robot weighed just under 230 pounds and was supposed to be a way of evaluating different spacesuit designs in a human-like fashion. The impressive bot had so much potential, but due to its leaky joints, NASA decommissioned the android in 1967. While it’s artificial life was short lived, it has inspired such creations like NASA’s Robonaut 2 aboard the ISS and perhaps even Google’s Terminator Robot.
GOOGLE CUTS TIES WITH TERMINATOR ANDROID
Back in February, Google’s Boston Dynamic’s company made headlines with their impressive android demonstration. A video gained a great deal of hype on the internet and everyone though the Google robot would soon become a reality. Despite the success, Google dumped Boston Dynamics. Given the nature of this android, it could easily be compared to a Terminator-like a scenario. Perhaps they wanted to cut ties with Boston Dynamic’s (AKA Skynet) to clear their name. It could have also been a purely financial decision to sell the company but the Terminator theory sounds much more exciting.
THE FUTURE OF ANDROIDS
While Alphabet doesn’t seem to want any part of the android boom, for now, NASA still sees the device as worthy. Their past, attempts may have been futile but it would be foolish to think robotic devices don’t have solid future for the space agency. After all, we certainly can’t afford to send humans on the volcanic surface of Venus to battle aliens can we? Also, we can expect androids to become a large part of our home life, making our day to day operations that much easier. That is until they ultimately fulfill their Terminator destiny and end humanity as we know it.
