Humanoid robots in space: the next frontier

Standing at 6 feet 2 inches (188 centimeters) tall and weighing 300 pounds (136 kilograms), NASA’s humanoid robot Valkyrie is an imposing figure.

Valkyrie, named after a female figure in Norse mythology and being tested at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, is designed to operate in “degraded or damaged human-engineered environments,” like areas hit by natural disasters, according to…