<div><span style="font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;font-size:16px;line-height:22px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">NASA's </span><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/tdm/telerobotics/11-160.html" class="bb-url external" target="_blank" style="outline-style:none;outline-width:initial;outline-color:initial;color:rgb(6,69,173);text-decoration:none;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;font-size:16px;line-height:22px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">SPHERES</a><span style="font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;font-size:16px;line-height:22px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"> (Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites) are one step along that path. They've been around since 2006. The bowling-ball-sized robots fly around the International Space Station using CO2 thrusters. If you think they look kind of like </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VangvXb1B0E" class="bb-url external" target="_blank" style="outline-style:none;outline-width:initial;outline-color:initial;color:rgb(6,69,173);text-decoration:none;font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;font-size:16px;line-height:22px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">Luke Skywalker's lightsaber training droid</a><span style="font-family:Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif;font-size:16px;line-height:22px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">, that's no coincidence. MIT professor David Miller used that scene as inspiration when he assigned the project to his students.</span>
</div><a href="http://www.fastcodesign.com/1665800/nasas-helper-robots-inspired-by-star-wars-and-powered-by-android">http://www.fastcodesign.com/1665800/nasas-helper-robots-inspired-by-star-wars-and-powered-by-android</a> <div>

<br clear="all">Warmest regards,<br>Huei Ming<br>
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