First Japanese Humanoid Sends Message From Space [Video]

Kirobo, the Japanese robot-astronaut became the first robot to make a call from outer space to Earth. The humanoid sent a message from the International Space Station orbiting 230 miles above Earth.

The message was a cheeky take off on the one sent by Neil Armstrong. "On August 21, 2013, a robot took one small step towards a brighter future for all. Good morning to everyone on Earth. This is Kirobo. I am the world's first talking robot astronaut. Nice to meet you."

"... I will now send a photo to Earth," Kirobo added.

The unique call of Kirobo from space, revealed September 5, has been timed to coincide with Japan's bid to pitch for the 2020 Olympics.

This humanoid was sent to space on August 4 aboard Konotori 4, an unmanned cargo transporter from the Tanegashima Space Center and docked at the ISS six days later. The humanoid is likely to stay in space till December 2014.

Kirobo was unveiled at a press conference held in Tokyo in June. It was developed by Tokyo University in collaboration with Toyota Motor Corporation, advertising agency Dentsu and Robo Garage. The aim is to see how a non-human companion can give emotional support to astronauts who stay in outer space for a prolonged period.

Kirobo will be welcoming Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata soon and their interactions will be observed by the developers. Wakata is likely to join Kirobo in November, according to a report.

"Russia was the first to go outer space, the US was the first to go to the moon, we want Japan to be the first to send a robot-astronaut to space that can communicate with humans," Yorichika Nishijima, manager of the Kirobo project said, according to AFP.

Weighing around 2.2 pounds (1 kg) and 13.4-in (34 cm) tall, this talking robot-astronaut was created by Tomotaka Takahashi, founder of Robo Garage. Kirobo is named after Japanese word "kibo" which stands for "hope". This android was created along with its counterpart Mirata, which would provide a back up from Earth in case of any crisis.

YOUTUBE COURTESY: VideoFromSpace