ROBOT ON WAY TO SPACE
FEDOR, a humanoid robot, is making his way to the International Space Station
A Russian humanoid robot was making its way on Thursday to the ISS after blasting off on a mission to support the crew.
WHO IS FEDOR?
Known as Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research (FEDOR), the Skybot F-850 is the first humanoid robot to be sent to space by Russia. The silvery anthropomorphic robot stands 1.80 metres (5-foot-11 inch) tall and weighs 160kg. NASA was the first to send a humanoid robot, Robonaut 2, to space in 2011
THE VOYAGE
FEDOR blasted off in a Soyuz MS-14 spacecraft at 6.38am (Moscow time). The robot is expected to dock at the ISS (International Space Station) on Saturday with 660kg of cargo including medical supplies and food rations for the crew waiting at the station. FEDOR will stay there till at least September 7
GAGARIN REVISITED
"Let's go. Let's go," the robot was heard saying during the launch, repeating the famous phrase used by the first man in space Yuri Gagarin
WHAT CAN FEDOR DO?
FEDOR is of the size of an adult human and can emulate movements of the human body. He apparently embraced his mission, describing himself as an assistant to the ISS crew on his Twitter page
LAUNCH SITE
Baikonur Cosmodrome, a spaceport located in southern Kazakhstan that is leased to Russia
THE MISSION
The robot's main purpose is that it can be used in operations that are dangerous for humans onboard spac ecraft and in outer space, says Russian space agency Roscosmos. On board the ISS, the robot will perform tasks supervised by Russian cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov