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Robot Kirobo Talks With Astronauts Aboard ISS

For the first time ever, a talking Japanese robot converses with humans in space.


( Astronaut Koichi Wakata talks to robot Kirobo aboard the ISS)

Astronaut Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) made small talk with Kirobo aboard the International Space Station on Dec. 6:

Wakata: How did you get out here into space, Kirobo?
Kirobo: On a Kounotori from Tanegashima.
Wakata: Oh, so you flew all the way into space on a bird? (In Japanese, "kounotori" means "white stork." The transfer vehicle that brought Kirobo to the space station in August was named Kounotori 4.)
Kirobo: It wasn't a bird; it was the Kounotori rocket.
Wakata: It's incredible that you came here all by yourself.
Kirobo: Well, I'm a robot!

SF fans fondly recall early depictions of this historic chat, like the interaction between Princess Leia and R2-D2 in the first Star Wars film in 1977. Fans of mainstream Sixties TV sci-fi also recall the Robot from Lost in Space.

Via NBC News.

Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 12/18/2013)

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