An Adorable Floating Robot Is Helping Astronauts on the ISS

Japan’s space agency has released photos and videos taken on board the International Space Station (ISS) by its grapefruit-sized robot drone.

The drone, called Internal Ball Camera (or Int-Ball), can be maneuvered by controllers and researchers from Earth, according a press release from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

The camera-equipped Int-Ball has glowing blue eyes, weighs 2.2 pounds and can move in any direction. It was created to help take videos of astronauts’ work and experiments and send them back to the ground. JAXA says the Int-Ball can help cut astronauts’ working hours by up to 10%.

JAXA hopes to upgrade Int-Ball in the future so that it can check on the ISS’s supplies and help diagnose onboard problems, Japan Times reports

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