The US space agency NASA is developing humanoid robots that could be sent to the Moon to work alongside astronauts and take on dangerous, strenuous or repetitive tasks. By dividing roles between people and machines, the agency aims to give mission crews more time to focus on exploration, scientific research and complex decision-making.
Johnson team develops robots to work alongside people
The Flexible Robotics team at the Johnson Space Centre in Houston is leading efforts to develop the software and mechatronic systems required for these robots. The work focuses on enabling them to move, use tools and handle equipment, and perform their tasks safely when they are near people in space-work environments. NASA is not seeking to replace astronauts with robots.
Team leader Shawn Azimi said the goal was “to make human exploration safer and more sustainable” by assigning robots tasks including carrying heavy loads, performing repetitive work and intervening in repair operations that could pose risks to people.
Lunar conditions impose stringent technical requirements
The challenge is not limited to building a machine with a human-like form, as these robots must withstand harsh conditions in space and on the lunar surface. These include low gravity, abrasive lunar dust and intense solar radiation, while the machines must also maintain a high level of reliability during operations.
The robots’ humanoid form gives them a practical advantage because future habitats, vehicles and work areas on the Moon will be designed primarily for human use. With arms, limbs and movement capabilities close to those of people, a robot can use some tools and operate in the same environment prepared for astronauts, without all equipment having to be adapted exclusively for machines.
Valkyrie and Robonaut 2 pave the way for the lunar project
NASA is drawing on previous experience developing humanoid robots for the project. One of its most prominent models is Valkyrie, completed in 2013 and later turned into a platform for testing the technologies needed for robots to work and move inside environments designed for human use.
In a demonstration held in 2024, Valkyrie delivered a loaded bag to a member of the robotics team, providing a simplified model of the tasks these machines could perform to support mission crews in the future. The Robonaut 2 project also helped advance these technologies after it became the first NASA-owned bipedal humanoid robot to reach the International Space Station.
Experiments conducted with Valkyrie and Robonaut 2 gave engineers experience in designing machines capable of working inside vehicles, facilities and environments equipped for people. NASA is testing these capabilities at the Johnson Centre’s iMetro facility.
The iMetro facility simulates lunar exploration environments
The facility includes vehicles designed for exploration and experimental living areas, as well as a rocky yard simulating parts of the lunar surface. This allows robotic systems to be tested in conditions close to the environments they could encounter during missions. The tests include tasks that may appear simple but take on importance during long missions.
PickNik tested software that allows a robotic arm to identify and open an opening in a spacecraft, then handle and move cargo bags. Such repetitive tasks consume astronauts’ time and place physical demands on them that could instead be directed towards higher-priority scientific missions. More capable robots could eventually intervene in repair work that might expose people to unnecessary risks.
Azimi believes sending these machines could help reduce risks and improve astronauts’ effectiveness in carrying out tasks at which humans excel. Humanoid robots could become an essential part of the operational infrastructure of future missions to the Moon, and perhaps to Mars at a later stage.
Their proposed roles include transporting equipment, preparing work sites and carrying out strenuous, dangerous and repetitive tasks, within a model based on partnership and a division of labour between people and machines, rather than replacing astronauts.
