Free Astronomy Magazine November-December 2015

ASTRONAUTICS NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2015 gence, so as to ensure that in certain situa- tions the robots can operate autonomously without receiving instructions from remote control centres. At present, the Hedgehogs feasibility has reached TRL 3.5 (NASA’s Tech- nological Readiness Level), namely the test- ing and verification phase in laboratory environment, which leaves us optimistic about future developments. Probably we will not have to wait many years before seeing one of these robots roaming on an asteroid or a comet, and that day we will witness a little revolution in the explora- tion of the solar system. n