A RUSSIAN Soyuz spacecraft carrying a humanoid robot successfully docked with the International Space Station yesterday following a failed attempt.

“The docking has taken place,” said the Mission Control Center. The docking of the Soyuz MS-14 spacecraft with a humanoid robot took place several minutes ahead of schedule, it said.

The humanoid robot Skybot F-850, nicknamed Fedor, meant to be tested for capacities to perform hazardous tasks onboard the ISS, will stay in orbit until early September, according to the Russian State Space Corporation Roscosmos.

The docking was rescheduled after a failed attempt early Saturday.

During the first docking attempt Saturday, a fault occurred in the ISS equipment responsible for the safe approach and airlocking, making the Mission Control Center decide to withdraw the spacecraft to a safe distance to ensure the safety of the crew and the station.

Russia’s space agency, Roskosmos, launched the android into space from the Baikonur cosmodrome Thursday.

The video from aboard the Soyuz capsule showed the robot sitting in the pilot seat and holding a small Russian flag. During the launch, the robot was heard saying “Let’s go,” repeating the phrase said by Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space, at the start of his 1961 trip.

Russian scientists nicknamed the android Fedor, short for Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research. Fedor’s design closely follows the human body, complete with five fingers on each hand. The robot, also designated as Skybot F850, is 180 cm tall and weighs 160 kg. His creators say he boasts “elements of artificial intelligence.”

(SD-Xinhua)