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AN UNMANNED SPACECRAFT carrying Russia’s first humanoid robot to be sent into orbit has successfully docked at the International Space Station, following a failed attempt over the weekend, Moscow’s space agency said.
The lifesize robot called Fedor copies human movements and can help astronauts carry out tasks remotely.
“Contact confirmed, capture confirmed,” a NASA commentator announced, while a statement on the website of Russian space agency Roscosmos also said the Soyuz MS-14 craft had managed to dock.
On NASA TV, which broadcast the event, the commentator praised the vessel’s “flawless approach to the ISS”.
“Second time was a charm… the crew is up to seven,” he said, referring to the six humans already aboard the space station.
The craft blasted off Thursday from a Russian spaceport in southern Kazakhstan and Fedor is due to stay on the ISS until 7 September, learning to assist astronauts there.
“Let’s go. Let’s go,” the robot was heard saying during the launch, repeating the phrase used by the first man in space Yuri Gagarin.
Soyuz ships are normally manned on such trips, but this time no humans were travelling in order to test a new emergency rescue system.
The MS-14 was carrying 670 kilogrammes of dry cargo including “scientific and medical equipment, components for the life-support system, as well as containers with food, medicines and personal hygiene products for crew members”, Roscosmos said.
Failed attempt
An aborted attempt to dock on Saturday had increased uncertainty over the future of Russia’s space programme, which has suffered a number of recent setbacks.
Last October, a Soyuz rocket carrying an American and a Russian had to make an emergency landing shortly after lift-off — the first failure in the history of manned Russian flights.
On Saturday, NASA had said the Soyuz craft was “unable to lock onto its target at the station”.
Russian flight controllers had told the ISS crew it appeared the problem that prevented automated docking was in the station and not the Soyuz spacecraft, NASA added.
NASA / Twitter
NASA / Twitter / Twitter
Fedor — short for Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research — can be operated manually by ISS astronauts wearing robotic exoskeleton suits and it mirrors their movements.
Robots like Fedor will eventually carry out dangerous operations such as space walks, according to the Russian space agency.
Fedor is not the first robot to go into space. In 2011, NASA sent up Robonaut 2, a humanoid developed with General Motors that had a similar aim of working in high-risk environments.
It was flown back to Earth in 2018 after experiencing technical problems.
In 2013, Japan sent up a small robot called Kirobo along with the ISS’s first Japanese space commander. Developed with Toyota, it was able to hold conversations — albeit only in Japanese.
The International Space Station has been orbiting Earth at about 28,000 kilometres per hour since 1998.
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Passing down the licence between families? It’s driving a Taxi, not feckin Downton Abbey. The situation of Taxis being independent is a mess, economically, socially, environmentally. The principle is no different to letting any private individual with a bus take up working a few routes, but only when he feels like it of course. Like many other Countries, the Taxi service should be a company/ies providing a contract to the City or State, running the vehicles, managing the peaks and troughs of demand and also employing drivers with rosters to match, while also ensuring a set wage, pension and benefits etc. This would also mean a better and uniform standard of vehicle and a earlier switch to an electric fleet, when they can be corporately financed.
@Paul Gorry: No solutions then Paul is it? Just some bűllshyt. Is that your phone going? Could be a fare.
@Eoin Roche: Absolutely solutions needed eoin but give over with your i know what’s best solutions. And yer little comment at the end is very condescending and so far from the truth.Ye will definitely get a good few likes for that one as you know. But to be honest you’re just a Ryan lover eoin with no actual input in the here and now.
@Paul Gorry: I remember in the past when Taxi plates were the god given rights of the owner – you can JUST GO AND …….
@Mick Jacobs: mick I remember in the past when i got a slap for wetting the bed. Anyway back in the real world 2022!!
@Paul Gorry: you wouldn’t happen to be a taxi driver by any chance??
@Mick Jacobs: You’re going back over 20 years ago, change the record.
@Eoin Roche: good ideas but they did pay for there taxis and should be able to sell them r pass them down r even gift them. I’m leaving industry very shortly over 10 year rule I even got a free 1 hear extension but no way I can afford even a 17 reg car I would love to be able to sell my plate r even gift it rather then see it go dead I did pay for it
Ps my car is immaculate and had 180000km on it.
@Eoin Roche: Brilliant!The average wage in Dublin is €900 a week(for 40 hours).Add in 30 days holidays and a fully funded pension and a swish eleccy vehicle under my bum.
Where can I sign up for this huge pay rise?
Before I go ,you are prepared for fares double what they are now?
@Carl Cotter: where are these jobs that get 30 days holidays and a fully funded pension?!?!
@Paul Hedderman: I don’t know about the pension but the vast majority of workers are entitled and get 30 days or equivalent, depending on shifts, of 30 days. When you include 20 days entitlement annual leave plus 10 days of bank holidays, neither of which taxi drivers are paid for by anybody else.
@Paul Hedderman: Every job gets 30 days holidays.
The pension is Eoin’s idea.
@Daniel Andrews: nothing wrong with that if he is
@Eoin Roche: I take it from your comments you never drove a taxi? So what if licences passed through what a silly comment. These drivers have struggled to put food on table for years, don’t listen to that one driver that’s making 100s a day it’s not true believe me. It has to be one of the hardest jobs to be in.
It costs the driver 1000s to keep nice cars, insurance, suitability tests & licenses etc..
Don’t even get me started on the abuse they take and people running off without paying.
@Carl Cotter: Every job does in its bottom get 30 days holidays. Statutory minimum is 20 days. You’re not understanding at all what the economies of scale are here. If you took all Taxis under one or two umbrella companies, it would save millions in the current duplication of practically every Taxi being a separately operated business. That’s so inefficient its insane! At the moment how much of Taxi drivers’s time is spent idling, joining long queues to wait for 15 mins of work every few hours, competing with each other. If the Taxi operation was centrally controlled, then demand management could optimise the service and the resources, rather than it being completely random as it is now. Only 29% of Taxis going out on the weekend nights? Mental.
@Eoin Roche: Good man eoin spoken like a true politician. Not once have you mentioned the problems a driver faces on the mean streets of this country,and that says a lot about you eoin.
Think maybe it’s time to allow Uber into the market
@Mick Maher: Uber is shoddy. Once you use Grab you never go back.
@Mick Maher: Uber is already in the market albeit with a licenced driver which is proper order. To drive for uber you have to be over 20 with a current driving license. Sounds very safe don’t it??
@Paul Gorry: Perfectly safe. Using Über to get around cities with actual deregulation and competition is a pleasure. Immaculate cars, excellent drivers, totally reliable and predictable service, because of the ratings.
@Eoin Roche: perfectly safe, yer having a laugh. Because of the ratings?You do realise uber drivers are put off the platform for bad ratings albeit they did nothing wrong, and the customer was having a bad hair day. Disgusting practice from a disgusting organisation. Just Google it eoin. Nuff said.
@Paul Gorry: you seem very grumpy Paul. Were you waiting for a taxi by any chance? I’ve used Uber over a 100 times when I lived in London, I have to say it was fantastic and I didn’t have 1 bad experience. I think it would help get people home from a night out and off the streets where they may be left vulnerable. If it’s not for you then don’t use it, use a regular taxi, you have a choice.
@Paul Gorry:
“Google it” lol
@Jimmy Chickens: Uber in London use private hire vehicles similar to Hackneys here. Not private cars.
@Eoin Roche: I think maybe the people on here whinging about Uber have never actually used it – I’ve used it, like you, several times a week when I lived in New Zealand, Australia and London – I’ve also used it on trips to New York and around the UK – I’ve never had any issue and apart from the rare surge pricing on things like public holidays it’s significantly cheaper than taxis
@SJF: Uber isn’t any cheaper than black cabs in London any more.They are significantly more expensive with surge pricing.
I don’t blame the taxi drivers for not wanting to take people home who are pissed out of the heads at 2 in the morning. It might be a good thing if it forces people to stop overdoing it at the pubs. Also with everything going on in the world (Ukraine), I think the word ‘crisis’ is a bit over the top.
@Sohoma Roanie: I agree, I think a bit of context is needed here. It’s bit of a first world problem.
@Sean McCarthy: so your saying being stuck in a dangerous city full of ju5kie3 at night time with little to no public or private transport home is not a problem?
What a load of … if the drivers are not working the busy nights it is due to them making the decision not to work those nights as they don’t want to be dealing with the mess that is a Friday or Saturday night in all towns and city’s particularly Dublin. Suggestions of an increase in fares is just looking to gouge the people that are out with no options. As long as drivers are setting own hours a large amount of them will not work the Friday and Saturday nights, and in fairness given the cr@p they have to deal with who can blame them.
Ah bless. Lads, the recession was a crisis. The lack of hospital beds is a crisis. The lack of affordable housing nad sharp increase in homelessness is. A crisi. This is an inconvenience. You won’t die if you can’t go out and binge drink yourself numb every weekend.
As a taxi driver who has works nights for 20 years I am genuinely saying it since the lock down restrictions lifted in January The late night Behaviour and the total lack of any respect either for driver or the taxi itself has hit a all time high . From kicking out at taxi doors on Camden st who already have a passenger on board to puking in cab or peeing on back seats opening donor kebabs in the back and soiling the cab or sneaking in full pints and then spilling it all over the place the list goes on and on . Taxi drivers work the following day and need there vehicles in tact in order to do so , Taxi drivers week does not just consist of the busy 3 hour period Friday and Saturday night and then having to spend 2 days off the road trying to get there car professionally cleaned and sanatized after someone pees through the back seats . It’s a 2 way street lads and ladies give and have some respect and you will get it back and may easily find a lot more taxis back working nights again . I can’t make this post any clearer and a lot of you see this behaviour going on every Friday and Saturday night . Finally taxi drivers are well aware the vast majority of the general public are decent people on a night out and never give or cause trouble simply just want to get home but the big problem is currently driving through the war zone to get those people on board .
Cheers and Thanks for reading
@Mick Barrett: well said Mick
just increase late night buses and let luas runs for the weekends until morning .
@royalfalcon: No Luas that is of any use to anyone living on the Northside of Dublin.
@Lisa Jones:
Does it not to Broombridge
Those effin taxis must be responsible for the chaos at the airport, lack of hospital beds , hotel prices , lack of housing and the war in Ukraine. Its not a taxi crisis its just little old Ireland
Just make it part of the requirements to hold a licence you must work at least a Friday and Saturday once a month to have a taxi licence. You could also issue weekend only licences. Do both. If that doesn’t work then consider raising rates.
Passing down a licence as some sort of serfdom and destiny for a child. It is a likely industry to be automated at least in part in the coming decades and not much of a future
@Craic_a_tower: NTA should inject a microchip in to all Taxi drivers to track them and if they don’t work on a Friday and Saturday night they can dial up the 5G gamma rays and eliminate them .
The truth is that during the pandemic a lot of taxi drivers took up orher jobs because there was effectively no work , some of them haven’t returned to the industry .
@Craic_a_tower: Ah right, so force restrictions on taxi drivers to work at certain times and only consider raising rates if that doesn’t work? So the exact opposite to what we hear landlords calling for in their business all the time? “Let the market dictate”?
@Fr. Fintan Stack: there is RPZ so what are you complaining about?
We’re are all the buses Trains and the Trams. I wonder will anybody be getting on to the NTA about NO public transport service. Taxi Bashing again.
Firstly, not a crisis.
Secondly, most people DGAF.
I can see why Taxi Drivers wouldn’t want to work weekend nights. I’m sure like the rest of us, they can do without being abused and having their cars destroyed by drunks.
Increase the number of buses and trams to accommodate the demand which is clearly pressing.
Provide nightly services for later hours diminishing to zero as the as the night wears on.
Provide two security guards per bus or tram to encourage order among the nocturnally disinhibited. Increase fares to pay for them; it would still be much cheaper than taxis.
Analyse when and where the demand is present to design new relevant service timetables. Monitor demand live also to deal with any unforeseen surges.
Mass public transport such as buses or trams is far more environmentally sound than running a mass of individual taxis.
A minutes’ reflection by any half-intelligent person can easily identify how to deal with the night time transport problem – provide more mass transport.
Maybe if a lot of drivers were not forced off the road by a end of life birthday on a car that has no problem passing an NCT and a suitably test people would have more taxis to get home. Ask the NTA about the thinking behind that.
Wont be the colour of the waits before deregulation
Only one solution for that.
Nobody wants to work any more,simple,joke of a country,full of poorly educated people earning crazy more and throw in the dole,,,only going to go one way and musk said it,,u been warned
have your say