Reply to post: Time for an early version of R2D2?

NASA tried turning lost spacecraft STEREO-B off and on again... but it didn't work. True story

Tikimon
Happy

Time for an early version of R2D2?

One of the major obstacles with fixing these sorts of problems is that you have to use the broken device to fix the broken device. Which may be out of power, turned the wrong way, covered in dust etc. Wouldn't it be interesting to have a relatively simple repair bot onboard? Something that can manipulate fasteners, swap cables around. Jack into com ports and restart/reprogram/issue commands to the CPU. Point and fire attitude jets to correct orientation. Etc.

It would be pretty brainless at this point, but having a catspaw to remote-control - even at several minutes delay - would give controllers a lot of extra options. The 'bot would nestle quietly in its box until needed, drawing power from the main spacecraft and being monitored with the rest of the systems.

It's not all swine and roses, of course. The bot would mean extra weight to loft. It might itself fail when finally needed. Worse, it might develop an annoying personality with lots of booping and beeping. I still believe this could be done with current tech, and might be worth it.

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