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Fate of Russia’s space robot to be decided after tests on ground

The tests will begin on Wednesday

MOSCOW, September 11. /TASS/. The fate of Russian anthropomorphic robot Fedor (Skybot F-850) will be known after upcoming tests by Russia’s Rocket and Space Corporation Energia, said Yevgeny Dudorov, the acting director of the robot’s developer Android Technology Company.

"All variants are possible, there is no certainty about that. We’ll see when the tests are over," Dudorov told TASS.

"The trials will, in fact, begin tomorrow [on Wednesday] and I think they will last a couple of days, on Wednesday and Thursday. After that, we will think about future areas of our work," he said.

Dudorov went on to say that the robot had accumulated vast amounts of data on its information storage device, which should be carefully studied.

"Once we get this information and analyze it, we will gather for some kind of meeting to decide what to do next," he said.

According to the official, Skybot F-850 will not be sent to space once again, but may become a museum exhibit or be used in campaigns to promote space science and cosmonautics.

Dudorov added that the space robot was handed over to RSC Energia before the space flight and will remain in the space corporation’s possession.

The Android Technology Company is satisfied with results of the experiments on board the International Space Station (ISS), Dudorov told TASS.

"Technically, the robot did just fine, so we are fully satisfied with its condition," he said.

He said that no technical problems involving the robot or other equipment occurred during Fedor’s space mission.

Further assessments will be made on the basis of tests, to be carried out Energia.

Fedor’s space mission

The Soyuz MS-14 spacecraft with Skybot F-850 humanoid robot (previously called FEDOR - Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research) on board docked with the International Space Station at 06:08 Moscow time on August 27.

The robot has been developed by Android Technology Company and the Advanced Research Fund on a technical assignment from Russia’s Emergencies Ministry. It has received its own name of Skybot F-850 where the letter F stands for its affiliation with the Fedor family of robots.

During its flight to the ISS, the robot transmitted telemetry data. After the docking, Russian members of the space station’s crew conducted a series of experiments with Fedor: Alexei Ovchinin controlled the experiment, while Alexander Skvortsov operated the robot in the avatar mode. During those tests, the robot used a drill, a towel, electrical equipment and answered to questions.