Controlling robots from the Space Station

The BBC reports that a ground robot has been controlled successfully from the International Space Station . Why does this matter?

1. It means that it should work equally well in the other direction. So, for instance, if you are trying to control robots refueling satellites in geosynchronous orbit, you could use this delay-tolerant technique.

2. It shows a path to preparing for settlements on Mars. CEO of XCOR Aerospace, Jeff Greason, has laid out a strategy for developing a Mars settlement that begins with a landing on Phobos, and controlling robots on the Martian surface from there. This ISS robot-control demo shows that that idea will work, or at least the control part of it.

There are also even more advanced communications approaches being tested, although not on the Space Station yet, like this advanced optical communications approach .

Coolness. There are other nifty robotic things going on on ISS--for example, they have experimented with refueling satellites using teleoperated robots. They are thinking about having a refueling station in GEO, and about using robots to build things at ISS, like giant telescopes.

So ISS is becoming a lab for New Space testing! That's very important, because it really shows a mental shift at NASA. NASA became famous because of human spaceflight accomplishments--but this really will be the century of robots in space. NASA has decided to become a part of it.