After a long wait, Robonaut 2, the humanoid robot who is currently making its home attached to a post on the International Space Station, is finally getting its legs!
Robonaut's legs have already undergone extensive testing here on Earth, and now NASA says that they're ready to make their way up into space on a cargo resupply mission on Sunday.
Of course, Robonaut has already been operating for three years up on the space station, but the list of new functionalities, which NASA says will eventually include work outside of the space station as well, is pretty impressive:
Once the legs are attached to the R2 torso, the robot will have a fully extended leg span of nine feet, giving it great flexibility for movement around the space station. Each leg has seven joints and a device on what would be the foot, called an "end effector," which allows the robot to take advantage of handrails and sockets inside and outside the station. A vision system for the end effectors also will be used to verify and eventually automate each limb's approach and grasp.
The new legs are designed for work both inside and outside the station, but upgrades to R2's upper body will be necessary before it can begin work outside the space station.
You can check out Robonaut, legs and all, in action in the video above.