March 8, 2011

Pres Obama Pushes for R2 Debut

After a teasing call from President Obama, the team from the Space Shuttle plan to put Robonaut 2 work earlier than planned.

"I understand that you have a new crew member, this R2 robot. So I don't know whether you guys are putting R2 to work, but you've got a lot of attention. That helps inspire some young people when it comes to science and technology. Are you making him do chores up there? Washing the dishes or something or does he have more exciting jobs?"

After the pres is told that he is still in packing foam, he tells the crew that it's a shame and unpack the guy to help him stretch his legs (oops.) Commander Lindsey replies that he has been in there for about four months and every once in a while they hear some scratching noises. Truly, there seems to be a bit of the geek in Mr. Obama and the sense of humor in the ISS is a welcome relief to the state of the real world.

Via NASA