VIDEO - NASA develops new way to grip space-rocks

Researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion lab have been working on the problem of gripping traditionally difficult-to-grip rocks. Their solution is to grip the many holes and pores of these rocky surfaces with lots of tiny "microspines," seen here in the video. The robot yields some pretty impressive results -- able to pick up rocks in excess of 13 kg. They also demonstrate a likely application, showing that the spines can be used to hold a robot to the rock while drilling through it.