Drone is sent to beat space crew’s stress
A TALKING, artificially intelligent drone is to be sent into space to help reduce astronauts’ stress.
Cimon, which has a smiley face and a vocabulary of more than 1,000 sentences, will join the International Space Station. The 5kg drone will offer technical help, warn of system failures and provide entertainment.
It will be able to recognise an astronaut’s face and voice. Project leader Till Eisenberg said: “We want to study the psychological effects of long space missions on crew members and try out suitable countermeasures, especially those that reduce stress.”
Cimon will be on board the ISS for the European Space Agency’s Horizon mission, which runs from June to October this year.