According to Norse mythology, Valkyries are supernatural female figures who decide the fates of Viking warriors in battle. NASA's Valkyrie is a giant white humanoid robot with a strong resemblance to a Star Wars Storm Trooper. So no, this new Valkyrie will not take your soul to carouse in Valhalla, but it's still pretty amazing. Some day it may just save your life.

The NASA version of the Valkyrie stands 6'2", weighs 130 kilograms and possesses an 80-inch armspan. It also has a glowing logo in its chest, runs about on its own power, and garners frequent comparisons to Iron Man from tech bloggers.

A team of engineers at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX designed and built the Valkyrie Robot in the remarkable short timespan of nine months. The machine's very human gestation period, however, may be the only human thing about it. In terms of abilities, the Valkyrie is, according to its designer Nicolaus Radford, engineered to be a "superhero."

The Valkyrie was designed and built to compete in DARPA's Robotics Challenge Trials, a competition meant to encourage the production of robots to help in search-and-rescue and disaster relief efforts. To that end, the Valkyrie has been designed specifically to deal with dangerous situations and unstable physical environments. It's built to be exceptionally sturdy but modular, so that limbs can be replaced with specialized tools for a given situation. It has cameras mounted strategically all over its body to provide human handlers with visual information from a variety of angles. It also has a soft fabric covering over its cold metal frame. This serves to not only protect the Valkyrie in case of impacts, but also to provide comfort and cushion for anyone the robot needs to carry to safety.

For the DARPA contest, the Valkyrie will need to complete 8 different tasks including operating a vehicle, maneuvering over different kinds of terrain, clearing debris and cutting a prescribed shape into a wall.

The Challenge Trials take place on December 20 and 21. The Valkyrie will be competing against five other would-be super robots. We will know shortly if the Valkyrie is a genuine future superhero or if, like its comic books inspirations, nothing more than a fancy costume and some expensive special effects.