Houston, we have a podcast.

Welcome to the official podcast of the NASA Johnson Space Center, episode 309, Valkyrie.

I'm Gary Jordan, I'll be your host today.

On this podcast, we're bringing in the experts, scientists, engineers, astronauts, all to

let you know what's going on in the world of human spaceflight and more.

On this episode, we're going to talk about a humanoid robot.

Humanoid means it walks like a human and kind of looks like a human.

Imagine Iron Man, but it's made of metal and electronics and built for a versatile

range of functions to best emulate human capabilities with no humans inside.

Recently, NASA announced collaborative agreements with companies around the world to utilize

NASA expertise for bringing humanoid robots into industry.

Why?

Well, think of something like an offshore oil rig, for example.

When a facility is built to be operated by humans with levers, switches, dials and doors,

but there are no humans there to attend to maintaining a facility, whether it's uncrewed

or potentially hazardous, what better capability than a one-stop shop for having a full swath

of human capabilities without risking human lives than a robot shaped like a human.

Why NASA?

Well, who's going to take care of home sweet Martian home when the astronauts are away?

Knowing that continuous human presence on the Martian surface is likely not immediately

achievable after those first boot prints.

It's a capability worth exploring and maturing.

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