Robots to replace astronauts for space repair works

Soon, spacewalks can be a thing of the past. While robots are replacing humans on earth in various walks of life, a Canadian robot is repairing and fixing cameras on the "Canadarm2" and its mobile base at the International Space Station (ISS).

Dextre is currently in the middle of a week-long repair job to replace and fix cameras on the "Canadarm2" and would finish the job Thursday.

"`Dextre', `Canadarm2' and the base make up the space station's robotic Mobile Servicing System, making this the first ever robot self-repair in space," the Canadian Space Agency announced in a statement.

"Using the 'Canadarm2' and Dextre reduces the overall number of spacewalks, definitely," Mathieu Caron, mission control supervisor at the Canadian Space Agency, was quoted as saying.

The robots are controlled from the Canadian Space Agency headquarters in Longueuil, Quebec, and NASA's Mission Control Centre in Houston, Texas.

Spacewalks are very complex and use a lot of space station resources while robots never need to return to the inside of the space station, making them more flexible, the Canadian Space Agency said.