Curiosity is basic human nature which has made man explore the world to understand the surroundings better. For this reason, man has advanced in space exploration over the years and has allowed robots, which is an electronic device that is self-controlled, replacing man on missions of space exploration.
The advantages of robotic mission in outer space such as their speed and the non-human qualities have made them prone to be a part of various explorations mission.
There are largely two kinds of space robots; Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV) and Remote Manipulator System. ROV is rovers that land on terrain for exploration in space and are operated from a single point. However, RMS is the commonly used robotic devices that replicate human arm movements such as the up and down and side to side motions. RMS can either be a computer or manually operated and have been a part of all the space missions carried out by NASA.
The robots that are sent to space from the earth are so far are not completely independent in their actions or super intelligent and need help in the form of guidance from the earth.
It is believed that in the next 100 years the robotic technologies will amalgamate with human bodies making it possible for a human to survive in the harsh and hostile environment on other planets. That said, the astronaut in the next 50 years will probably look like Robocop.
The robots sent to space will transition to small robots that are autonomous and intelligent. Such robots will be able to probe into areas of interest and will be able to organize themselves into bigger machines that will help further in space exploration.
The future of space exploration with space robotics is certainly bright with NASA experimenting with different manned and unmanned space exploration robots. There are a number of robotic missions launched into space by NASA such as the Robonaut 2 with special climbing manipulators to hold onto surfaces, Valkyrie or R5 that has shown amazing dexterity, RoboSimian which is a powerful, ape-like machine that can create a map of the environment in 3D technology, German Aila which is made to enhance artificial intelligence in the space; the Japanese Kirobo which is small astronaut robot and other unmanned robots like Rosetta and Dawn that have proved themselves in space missions as rovers, landers and orbiters.
