Four sister robots built by NASA could be the vanguard for the colonization of Mars by helping to set up a habitat for future human explorers

Valkyrie robot at UMass Lowell NERVE Center Image by Elise Amendola/AP
In this May 2, 2016 photo, researchers watch a six-foot-tall, 300-pound Valkyrie robot walk slowly at University of Massachusetts-Lowell's robotics center in Lowell, Mass. "Val," one of four sister robots built by NASA, could be the vanguard for the colonization of Mars by helping to set up a habitat for future human explorers. NASA spokesman Jay Bolden says the agency aims to get to Mars by 2035 and it’ll be the Valkyries or their descendants paving the way.

05/19/2016
U.S. News & World Report
By Matt O'Brien

LOWELL, Mass. (AP) — Four sister robots built by NASA could be the vanguard for the colonization of Mars by helping to set up a habitat for future human explorers.

But first they're finding new homes on Earth and engineers to hone their skills.

The space agency has kept one Valkyrie robot at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. It's loaned three others to universities in Massachusetts and Scotland so professors and students can tinker with the 6-foot-tall, 300-pound humanoids.

Holly Yanco, who directs the University of Massachusetts Lowell's robotics center, calls the robot Val. She's set up a test course working in collaboration with researchers at Northeastern University. MIT is hosting a second Valkyrie.

NASA spokesman Jay Bolden says the agency aims to get to Mars by 2035 and it'll be the Valkyries or their descendants paving the way.

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