Table of Contents Chapter 1 EXPLORERS AND HELPERS 4 Chapter 2 THE RACE FOR SPACE 10 Chapter 3 SPACE ROBOTS TODAY 18 Chapter 4 INTO THE FUTURE 24 Glossary 30 Index 31
Chapter 1 EXPLORERS AND HELPERS For more than sixty years astronauts have traveled to space They have orbited Earth and landed on the moon They have performed many experiments Astronauts help scientists understand the universe But much of what we know about space comes from a different source robots Robots are machines that perform certain tasks Some can work on their own Others need instructions from people to do their jobs 4
An artist’s concept of a Voyager robot in space Hardy Workers Space robots come in all shapes and sizes They may be as large as a car or as small as a shoebox They often have computers and sensors that collect information about their surroundings They might also have antennae Antennae allow them to send radio signals to Earth 5
