When humans one day set foot on Mars, they won’t be alone. Among the first “inhabitants” of the Red Planet could be robots like Valkyrie — an imposing humanoid nearly two meters tall, developed by NASA.
And today, Valkyrie is one step closer to working alongside astronauts: it has been equipped with a bionic hand from PSYONIC, capable of tactile interaction.
Valkyrie weighs 125 kilograms, walks on two legs, and can manipulate objects with near-human precision.
The new bionic hand gives it sensory capabilities — the robot can now not only grab objects but also feel their texture and resistance, almost as if it had skin of its own.
For future space missions, this is critically important: remote assembly of equipment, repairs on the surface of the Moon or Mars, rescue operations — all of this could be entrusted to machines, minimizing risks for human astronauts.
NASA makes no secret of its ambitions: Valkyrie is not just an experiment.
It’s a prototype for the next generation of robots that will be able to work in extreme environments where human life would be difficult — or impossible.
Robots that can feel, think, and act autonomously are no longer science fiction.
They are already preparing for launch.
