Johnson Space Center scientists wave hello to ISS

Image: Assembly, Self promotion, Working hard, Busy as a beaver
Info: Canadarm2

NASA scientists have figured out a way to operate the Internation Space Station robotic arm remotely, a big step toward providing an extra set of hands during Extra-Vehicular Activity. It is hoped at some point the arm may be used in placed of an EVA, an effort to lower the astronaut's exposure to risk.
This is actually old news: the test was conducted in February. And it's not real-time remote control. According to the story at Space.com:


While the test was successful, it was only a trial run and it will take more time to develop complex controls. In the initial run, ground controllers only gave the arm a little exercise – they waved the free end of the arm around in five-foot increments for four and a half hours over the span of two days.
Members of the space station crew operate the arm in real time by hand control. From the ground, however, ROBOs must write a sequence of commands and send them in one single transmission to the station to move the arm around.
"Because the possibility exists that we can lose contact with the station, we set up a chain of commands and watch it execute," Aziz explained. "That way, if we lose communication during the maneuver, [the arm] will still follow the sequence."

It's one step closer to the type of automated space station NASA has always dreamed of. But do the Robotics Officers have to call themselves ROBOs? Talk about Geek overload...