Robo-Touchdown! For Super Bowl 2017, NASA's Robonaut 2 Shows Off Ref Skills

NASA's humanoid robot Robonaut 2 is ready for Super Bowl 2017, showing off numerous referee signals. (Image credit: NASA)

Sporting a referee's hat and whistle, NASA's humanoid Robonaut 2 (R2) showed off some Super Bowl referee signals in a new video. The robot, which is being tested on the International Space Station, used its hands and body to simulate the calls a football referee would make.

A version of R2 launched to the International Space Station in 2011, where it is being tested for routine tasks such as flipping switches or cleaning filters. The long-term aim is to create a human "helper" to free up astronauts for more time-intensive work, such as science experiments. [NASA Goes to Super Bowl 2017 (Photos)]

R2 may eventually be upgraded to allow it to work outside the space station. This would allow the robot to take on tasks during spacewalks, which are considered some of the most dangerous activities for astronauts.

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Elizabeth Howell (she/her), Ph.D., was a staff writer in the spaceflight channel between 2022 and 2024 specializing in Canadian space news. She was contributing writer for Space.com for 10 years from 2012 to 2024. Elizabeth's reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House, leading world coverage about a lost-and-found space tomato on the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents, flying parabolic, working inside a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars mission. Her latest book, "Why Am I Taller?" (ECW Press, 2022) is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams.