There’s human debris floating around the earth, and cleaning it up is posing to be a challenging task. Researchers from NASA’s laboratory in Pasadena, California have come up with a gripping device that could be affixed to robots to clean space. The gripping pads work the same way a gecko sticks to a wall—with tiny hairs on its feet. The gecko-inspired gripper become sticky, or un-sticky, depending on which way you apply force to the object you are trying to grab. Aside from cleaning space, the new grippers could be a smoother and safer way to dock satellites and spacecraft during flight. See this test video.
Gecko inspired grippers to clean space
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