Robotics

NASA comes to St. James Robotics

 

The Robotics Club had a special guest speaker at their last meeting.  Mr. Mike Ferullo , a NASA Aerospace engineer, brought photos taken from the space station to show the students how robots assist the astronauts.  One club member found the photos of the control room on the space station to be the most fascinating.  Mr. Ferullo's responsibilities include training the astronauts to use the robots in space.  He explained how the robots worked, the functions they could perform for the astronauts and how the mechanics in space differed from those on earth.  According to Mr. Ferullo, one of the most important things they teach the astronauts is to fix things that are broken.  In training, the engineers purposely break parts for the astronauts to fix.  They are hoping by training them that way, if something breaks on the space station, they will know what to do to fix it.  Critical thinking could save your life on the space station.