Kirobo

♤ Japan's talking robot-astronaut.

♤ It is about 34 centimetres tall and weighs about one kilogramme, which makes it smaller than most robots that go into space.

♤ It has a wide range of physical motion, will also play a role in some missions, relaying messages from the control room to the astronaut.

♤ Back on earth, twin robot Mirata will be on the lookout for any problems encountered by its electronic counterpart.

♤ Named after a combination of the Japanese word kibo, or "hope", and the word "robot", the Kirobo project is part of an experiment that will see the first human-robot conversation held in space.