CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - SpaceX made an early holiday delivery to the International Space Station on Sunday, dropping off super muscular “mighty mice,” pest-killing worms and a smart, empathetic robot. The station commander, Italy’s Luca Parmitano, used a large robot arm to grab onto the Dragon three days after its launch from Cape Canaveral. “Whenever we welcome a new vehicle on board, we take on board also a little bit of the soul of everybody that contributed to the project, so welcome on board,“ Parmitano told Mission Control. The capsule holds 3 tons (2,720 kilograms) of supplies, including 40 mice for a muscle and bone experiment. The capsule also has a large, round robot head with artificial intelligence and the ability to sense astronauts’ emotions.

Source: thestar December 08, 2019 11:03 UTC