July 14, 2011 11:28 am EDT

NASA robotic gas station successfully installed -- our Jetsonian dreams (almost) fulfilled

So we won't be zipping around with wife and kids in a flying car anytime soon, but NASA brought us ever closer to a Jetsonian future, yesterday, with the installation of its Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM) experiment. Fifteen minutes into their spacewalk, Mike Fossum and Ron Garan successfully installed the appropriate hardware on the International Space Station for pumping fuel to satellites in space. Using the Canadian-born Dextre (aka Special Purpose Dextrous Manipulator) as a gas station attendant, the RRM will eventually be used to refuel and perform minor repairs to satellites in orbit, potentially extending the time they can stay aloft. Now that that's underway, how 'bout y'all get to work on making Rosie a reality?

NASA robotic gas station successfully installed -- our Jetsonian dreams (almost) fulfilled originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Jul 2011 07:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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