NASA's Astrobees need a new buzz – any ideas for the space-dwelling bots?

Hey Reg readers, what would you do with Honey, Queen, and Bumble?

NASA is looking for ideas on what to do with the Astrobee drones flying around the International Space Station (ISS).

The Astrobee robots are free-flying cubes, roughly 32 centimeters (12.5 inches) wide, that prowl around the microgravity environment of the ISS using their cameras to perform inventory or document experiments conducted by the crew.

The trio of robots – Honey, Queen, and Bumble – were launched on separate cargo freighters between 2018 and 2019. They are electrically powered, charge from a docking station, and also feature a perching arm to hang from a handrail rather than expend power on hovering in one place.

Astrobees (pic: NASA) – click to enlarge

The Astrobees are a helpful trio, able to work autonomously or via remote control. Over the years, the robots have been pressed into service to test mechanical adhesive technology, and demonstrate how a spacecraft might be maintained without humans taking care of things.

They have also proven to be reliable. According to NASA, a return for repairs was only required twice to date, one of which was for an SD card change. The other needed a replacement board. Since the Astrobees have at least two spares of each component, it is reasonable to expect that they would be capable of operating through to the end of the ISS program.

NASA is therefore looking for suggestions for what to do with the trio. The US space agency will continue to own the robots, however, it could offer services and support for enquiring folks. "Interested Parties would be required to accept responsibility for the cost of planning, use, and sustaining of the on-orbit Astrobee assets, as well as any supporting ground test and training facilities," NASA said.

There are plenty of scenarios in which having a flotilla of robots to take care of things in the absence of humans would be attractive. NASA's Lunar Gateway station is expected to be uncrewed for long periods, requiring caretakers to keep the hardware in good shape.

Or could the three robots be used for other purposes? The Astrobees use electrically powered fans to move around, so they need to be in an atmospheric environment as well as microgravity. But otherwise, NASA is open to ideas. Let us know your suggestions.

Applications close on Friday 27 September and must be from US entities, but The Register is an international operation, so we're sure the US space agency would welcome the helpful ideas of our readers. ®