 In imaginative worlds, they've come in all shapes and sizes. A better knock, I suppose? That doesn't seem to be anyone here. Let's go back and tell Master Luke. But most present-day robots have far less personality than their fictional counterparts. In a kind of mechanical ballet, these computers control industrial automatons. Tirelessly go about their business, often performing tasks too dangerous, or monotonous for human workers. NASA has been involved in robotics research for years, developing sophisticated vision systems and sensors. Today at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, robots do a variety of jobs, including blasting layers of old thermal protection material from the shuttle's external tanks. But now researchers at Marshall are focusing their attention on using computerized machines like these elsewhere in space. One robotic device, the shuttle's remote manipulator arm, has already made its mark, doing everything from dropping off scientific payloads to serving as a platform for astronauts outside the shuttle. But even with the help of the arm, working in space is difficult. One application that holds a lot of promise for robotic workers is the retrieval and repair of satellites. Shuttle crews have demonstrated that they can make successful service calls on disabled spacecraft, but it's not easy. This is where the Orbital Maneuvering Vehicle, or OMV, under study at Marshall would be extremely useful. Essentially a large space truck. The OMV could fly away from the shuttle, rendezvous with the disabled satellite, and bring it back for repair. On-board cameras allow an operator to control it from inside the mother ship. The people at Marshall are also working on robotic devices that could repair a satellite in orbit. Using sophisticated claws, these machines change out defective parts. Advanced robots could be a great help in assembling this country's space station. And once the space station is up and running, robots will continue to play an important role in this and other NASA projects in the future.