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 FILE - In this Aug. 4, 2010 file photo provided by NASA, astronaut Michael Barratt shakes hands with Robonaut 2, also known as R2, during a news conference in the Space Vehicle Mock-up Facility at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. NASA ground controllers turned on the robot Monday, Aug. 22, 2011, for the first time since it was delivered to the International Space Station in February. (AP Photo/NASA, Lauren Harnett, File)  

It’s Alive! Humanoid Robot Powers Up on Space Station

9:15 AM 08/23/2011
Tina Nguyen

Move over Commander Data, there’s a real robot in space, now. The International Space Station got a new crewmember today, one made not of flesh and blood, but of gears and clockwork instead.

Called Robonaut 2, the automaton astronaut was activated by human spaceflyers today (Aug. 22) after months in storage since being delivered to the space station earlier this year. An initial series of tests checked the robot’s power systems and camera eyes.

“Those electrons feel GOOD!”  read a post on Robonaut 2′s Twitter page. “One small step for man, one giant leap for tinman kind.”

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