Humans may have gotten us up to space, but we owe many of our stellar successes to robots. From automating menial tasks and supervising repairs to someday conducting emergency surgery, robots have taken on a lot of jobs aboard the International Space Station and other vital spacecraft—and as we continue to explore the stars, they’ll likely continue to do so. But having a handful of robots, each with its hyper-specific uses, isn’t always practical. To MIT, flexibility is vital.