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Japan sends rocket to International Space Station

Japanese space launch.jpg

The Japanese cargo-carrying rocket, H-2B, lifts off from the launch pad of the southern island of Tanegashima on August 4, 2013.

AFP: Jiji Press



According to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) the launch had gone to plan.

"The HTV4 module has separated from the rocket as scheduled and continues its journey to the ISS," a JAXA spokesperson said during a broadcast streamed over the internet.

"Information on its progress will be given later, as and when," the spokesperson added of the module which is due to dock at the station on August 9.



A small talking robot accompanied the mission. The android is designed to act as a chatting companion for astronaut Koichi Wakata, who is set to arrive at the space station later this year.

'Giant leap for robots'

Standing at just 34 centimetres tall and weighing about one kilogram, Kirobo is programmed to communicate in Japanese and keep records of its conversations with Wakata, the first Japanese astronaut to command the ISS.

"Kirobo will remember Mr Wakata's face so it can recognise him when they reunite up in space," its creator Tomotaka Takahashi told AFP.





"It's one small step for me, a giant leap for robots" Mirata said of Kirobo's journey into the stars.





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