A robotic “truss builder” has assembled a structure in orbit without a human on the controls, Space.com reports, in what Caltech’s Sergio Pellegrino calls the first time that’s been done. The DARPA-funded Caltech demo, Autonomous In-Space Tensioned Reflector ASTRA, built a reflective antenna from Kapton film, composite fiber tubes and aluminum joints.
The point is to get past the size of a rocket fairing. In orbit you can assemble things that would never fit in a nose cone, from big antennas to huge solar arrays. Pellegrino: “This work could be useful not only for astronomy and astrophysics, but also for communications and other areas.”
My take
If we want bigger telescopes and power arrays off Earth, robots are going to have to build them. This is a first step, and a cool one.
God Bless, and Happy hacking!
