5999.997

July 11, 2012 5:38 PM

Robbie is a short film assembled from NASA archive footage.
posted by anigbrowl (9 comments total)

Wow, neat. And sad too. I liked it!

We are all pizza.
posted by Ron Thanagar at 6:21 PM on July 11, 2012

Very cool. Loved the Ian Anderson cameo.
posted by podwarrior at 6:31 PM on July 11, 2012

seriously? a religious robot? how desperate are the mystics these days?
posted by varion at 6:52 PM on July 11, 2012

This was interesting. I like the concept especially, though the plot was lacking.
I mean, what was the mission that sent Robbie into space? Why did the rest of the crew leave? What happened to the humans on earth?

Wish this was more developed.
posted by Gyrus at 7:26 PM on July 11, 2012

Gyrus: The question "What happened" is the who gist of the film. It seems obvious he was sent up in replacement of human crew. I do think he should have had clues about what happened though. Carefully selected, contradictory clues. And no more.
posted by Goofyy at 10:05 PM on July 11, 2012

There's a question of whether one could know. The footage of "Craig" on another planet was actually taken from Apollo 16, in 1972. So was Robbie mis-remembering or was his memory fried by something? Has he really been in space 6,000 years? Everything in the film is suspect, which has its pluses and minuses, from a narrative sense.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:52 AM on July 12, 2012

Robonaut 2 (Robbie) has been on the ISS since Thursday, February 24, 2011. It is not self aware (yet?), though there is a progression in the series (see R1) which is one of many (like CanadaARM -> CanadaARM2 -> Dextre; JEMRMS; and the forthcoming ERA). Dextre is also pushing the limits of what is possible with a simulated satellite repair operation (RRM) in progress now.

That's the early "history" Robbie discussed, prior to being self aware. Robonaut 2 will probably be up there until a new version comes along, or even upgraded in place as the film indicates. From the posts and comments on R2's Facebook page, people identify with it, as we tend to do.
posted by jwells at 6:00 AM on July 12, 2012

A few problems: first, the station Robbie is on would have been obliterated by both space junk and dust abrading it. Second, the station has solar panels, which removes the need for a "battery" (probably nuclear).
posted by Old'n'Busted at 7:07 AM on July 12, 2012

This seems as good a place as any, since I was never going to finish the fpp on it: "Apogee of Fear", a short movie filmed on ISS by Richard Garriott during his stay as a "spaceflight participant" in 2002. Originally all the astronauts onboard the station were going to act in the movie, but two backed out and required him to rewrite part of the script while in orbit. NASA originally refused to allow the film's release, but relented in early 2012.
posted by autopilot at 3:56 PM on July 12, 2012