The original robonaut, a humanoid robot designed for space travel, was developed 10 years ago 
by NASA. Based on these experiences, NASA cast a new era of space exploration for the current version of the robonaut, known as robonaut2 or R2.

NASA and General Motors 
are working together to accelerate the development of the next generation of robots.

The R2 will be the first ever humanoid robot to go into space next month, helping researchers building a robot that can carry out dangerous or 
repetitive tasks in space that would otherwise be performed by a human.

“The combined potential of humans and robots is a perfect example
of the sum equaling more than the parts. It will allow us to go farther and achieve more than we can probably even imagine today” says John Olson, director of NASA’s exploration systems
integration office.

Read the original blog post here on designboom.