Naughty or nice, every kid wants to ask Santa for a Christmas present. Now, robots too.
Japan's first robot astronaut met human astronaut Koichi Wakata at the International Space Station, and had a special request:
(SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) JAPANESE ASTRONAUT, KOICHI WAKATA, SAYING:
"Do you have anything to ask Santa for Christmas?"
(SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) ROBOT ASTRONAUT, "KIROBO", SAYING:
"A toy rocket!"
(SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) JAPANESE ASTRONAUT, KOICHI WAKATA SAYING:
"Then let's ask Santa"
He was developed by Japanese developer Takahashi and is seen as a blueprint for future human-robot co-existence.
(SOUND BITE) (Japanese) CEO OF "ROBO GARAGE" AND ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF RESEARCH CENTER FOR ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE, THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO, TOMOTAKA TAKAHASHI, SAYING:
"These types of robots may play an active role in space. For instance, they can convey the directions to the astronauts from earth, and they can think by t
