Reuters — The first images taken by camera drone robot Int-Ball have just been released.
The spherical drone has been deployed by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), on board the module Kibo on the International Space Station (ISS). It arrived at ISS on June 4.
Int-Ball is made from 3D-printed parts and existing drone technology.
It is controlled by researchers at the JAXA Tsukuba Space Center.
Taking photographs and video can take up 10 percent of an astronaut’s working hours, according to JAXA, which hopes to free up that time for other on-board tasks.
JAXA also wants to allow ground researchers to watch in real time from the crew’s perspective as they conduct experiments.
