Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. A standard ballpoint pen will not write in space. Without gravity ...

In a quiet corner of the International Space Station, far from the bustle of experiments and Earth communications, three small robotic cubes drift through the air like hummingbirds in slow motion.

NASA is quietly rewriting the script for human exploration of the Red Planet, turning robots from remote-controlled tools into autonomous partners tasked with keeping crews alive far from home.

AI makes ISS robot navigation 50–60% faster, marking the first in-orbit demonstration of machine-learning-based motion control. The system handles the station’s cluttered, narrow interior, where ...