Talking ’robot astronaut’ blasts into space

A talking humanoid robot, Kirobo, takes off on board a supply ship bound for the International Space Station from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Centre. The first talking humanoid robot, Kirobo, took off from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Centre, Kagoshima Prefecture, early on Sunday morning. Japanese rocket, H-IIB Transfer Vehicle, took off at 4:46am local time on Sunday (19:46 GMT), heading for the International Space Station with close to five and a half tons (tonnes) of supplies and equipment.