Robotics are used in space exploration and in the space industry all of the time. Some of the robotic equipment that is used by NASA are robotics space rovers, satellites, and robotic arms on space crafts. New robotics are being developed for space exploration everyday. If we did not have robots we would not know anywhere near as much about space as we do today. How are robots being used in space today?The first programmable robot was made in 1958 by Joseph F. Engelberger who was a science fiction enthusiast. Since that robot was made robotics have been indispensable in the space industry and in space exploration. Those robots my not have looked like the ones in the movies but they were still amazing for there time period. Over the years our use of robots in space has increased along with the development of new robotics. NASA has been using robotic rovers to explore Mars for a very long time. Examples of the rovers that have been sent to Mars to explore the mysterious planet are Spirit and Opportunity. Both of these land rovers built by NASA were designed to study the climate pattern on Mars and whether or not there was water on Mars. The robotic rovers were fitted with helpful and complicated tools to determine what role water played on Mars and whether life if sustainable on the planet. The rovers were solar powered but there mission was achievable by there radioisotope heater units. Both of these rovers were sent to Mars in 2003 and by the time they had finished their studies they had found information that was not even expected to be found. The pair managed to discover that there are significant sources of water on Mars. The way these rovers were able to tell that there is water on Mars was because NASA made it capable for the rovers to scan the ground and the soil. This aloud the rovers to study the soil and determine whether or not there were traces of water. Another example of a rover on Mars is Curiosity. Curiosity was launched into space on November 26, 2011. The main goal for the Curiosity rover was to prove whether or not Mars could sustain life on it. The rover was not designed to find life but had tools on it to see if life could eventually be on Mars. The rover sent back information that proved Mars had conditions that could support life in the past. When Curiosity drilled into the crust of Mars it found all of the elements that are needed to support life. The elements included oxygen, sulfur, nitrogen, and more. Even though these elements do not prove life is there right now they prove that life on Mars is possible in the future or on a planet similar to it. Rovers that are used in space to discover new trait of a planet are truly amazing. The have all of the robotic tools on them that make them a great asset to the exploration of space. It is amazing that a lot of pieces of metal and electronics can be put together and programed to do something so interesting and helpful. The thing is though we have just started there is a new and improved rover being built and is planned to be ready in 2020. This rover goal will also be to prove that life is possible on Mars. When the rover is sent to Mars, if it happens to find more information in the soil a future mission might be to get that soil back so scientists can study it and understand Mars better. The thing is each rover we are sending to Mars is getting us that much closer to figuring out the key to having life on Mars. This new and improved rover is still designed almost the same as Curiosity because it was such a success they did not want to mess it up. Even though they have there similar designs there will most likely be many new and improved tools and design elements to the rover. Some major aspects that this new rover will be looking for is how humans can create oxygen in Mars's atmosphere, how the weather is on Mars, new and safer was to land on the red planet, looking for resources like surface water and finally looking for conditions of Mars that would affect us if humans managed to make it on Mars. Robotic rovers are used a lot in space exploration and will continue to for many years and they will continue to improve each time there is a new mission. (NASA 2016) When space shuttles were created, NASA had to come up with a way to load and move large and heavy objects in and out of the newly designed shuttle. There were many different ideas considered, such as a way to eject the objects but NASA decided on using a large robotic arm or crane in their design. Spacecrafts have had robotic arms on them for more than 30 years. The crane on the spacecrafts have been very useful and were more successful than the engineers intended. The crane is capable of lifting extremely heavy equipment but at the same time causes no damage to these important objects. The first spacecraft to integrate this robotic arm was launched on November 13, 1981. One of the mission’s tasks was to see if the robotic arm functioned properly. NASA moved the arm around and tested its lifting capabilities. The plan for the mission was to test the arm for five days in space. This plan was shortened by two days because the crane had a problem with one of its fuel cells. The robotic arm tests were planned to be shut down but the team that designed it were unwilling to let this happen. The pilot that flew the spacecraft described the experience of testing the robotic arm like “evaluating how well your hand is able to scratch your knee.” The robotic arm had six joints, two in the shoulder, one in the elbow and three in the wrist. The crane is hollow so on earth it would not be capable of even holding its own weight. In space, the arm was capable of lifting more than 586, 000 pounds. The crane was even able to place a small peg in a hole. The crane was the first real exposure of robotics in space. In 1985 the robotic arm was put back into action when a satellite was put off of course because one of its rockets did not fire correctly. The robotic arm was used to retrieve the satellite so the astronauts could fix it. The robotic crane was later used to perform the same task of retrieving and fixing damaged satellites. In more recent times the second version of the robotic arm was put onto the international space station in 2001. The new crane could reach further, carry more weight, and move to more positions. The crane had a small camera and laser added to it so the arm could fix problems that the spacecraft/spacestation had at that moment. After that first test of the robotic arm was conducted robotics used in space has increased so much that it is crazy to think about. The crane went from just moving heavy objects to moving heavier object, making repairs to equipment, and building the international space station. The things the arm can do at this time are just the start of what the crane will be able to do in the future. It could even do something as big as overall changing how space exploration can be done and could change how big of things we can build in space. When people think of robotics in space they most likely do not think of this huge giant machine that can lift huge amount of weight but instead something like a revolutionary rover used to explore Mars. But the fact of the matter is the robotic arm on spacecraft is just as revolutionary as the Mars rover. It lets us do amazing things in space that we never would have thought we would be doing 25 years ago. ( Brandi Dean November 23, 2007) A satellite is a machine/robot that orbits around something in space like a planet, star, or moon. A satellite is launched into space and orbits around an object in that area. Thousands of man made satellites are orbiting around earth. Satellites have many functions and uses. Some can take pictures to help meteorologists predict the weather and track hurricanes and some can take pictures of other objects in space, for example planets, black holes, and faraway galaxies. These pictures can help scientists understand our solar system and the universe. Most satellites are used for communication like sending out television signals and making cell phone calls possible. A group of more than twenty satellites makes up a global positioning system, or GPS. Without satellites, it would not be possible to pull up google maps on your phone and get directions instantly. Satellites are very important to earth because they allow us to see lots of land at a time. This allows us to be able to collect research and data faster and easier. Satellites can see into space a lot further than telescopes can because they are above earth’s clouds so there is no dust and dirt in our atmosphere. Without satellites television signals and cellular phone calls would be very expensive and difficult because we would have to set up landlines all over the place. With satellites, signals are shot up into space and almost instantly come back down from the satellite that received them. Satellites come in lots of shapes and sizes. Almost every satellite has an antenna and a power source. An antenna allows the satellite to receive and send the information that is given to it. A power source for a satellite can be a solar panel or some kind of battery. A lot of satellites made by NASA contain cameras and scientific sensors. These tools can be aimed at earth to collect data or aimed towards space to collect information about our universe. Satellites are most often shot into space by rockets. A satellite is able to orbit earth due to earth’s gravitational pull. Without earth’s gravitational pull the satellite would keep traveling through space and never orbit earth. Satellites can crash into each other but it is very uncommon because when they are shot into space they are set to land in a position without other satellites orbiting there. Do you think using robotics in space is a good idea? Humans will continue to increase their use of robotics in space for many many years. We know robots will be used more in space because new and improved robotics are being made every day for space exploration and even everyday life. Robots are some of the most useful and important part of space exploration. Without robotic rovers we would not know nearly as much about Mars as we know today. We would not even have been able to see the surface of Mars. We will never reach our limit on the development of robotics and the designs we come up with will keep getting better year by years.