--- title: International Space Station: Kirob, Robot Astronaut, Makes Small Talk description: In what’s being billed as the first conversation of its kind, the world’s first humanoid robot astronaut had a chat with the Japanese commander of... canonical: https://time.com/archive/7218499/worlds-first-robot-astronaut-makes-space-station-small-talk/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2013-12-20T12:52:32.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-18T14:45:17.100Z article:section: Science og:title: International Space Station: Kirob, Robot Astronaut, Makes Small Talk og:description: In what’s being billed as the first conversation of its kind, the world’s first humanoid robot astronaut had a chat with the Japanese commander of... og:url: https://time.com/archive/7218499/worlds-first-robot-astronaut-makes-space-station-small-talk/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb7a0cb0d424170ee/6998b5929fbc7cebacd982a6/03996725-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Humanoid communication robot Kirobo and Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: International Space Station: Kirob, Robot Astronaut, Makes Small Talk twitter:description: In what’s being billed as the first conversation of its kind, the world’s first humanoid robot astronaut had a chat with the Japanese commander of... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb7a0cb0d424170ee/6998b5929fbc7cebacd982a6/03996725-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Science](/section/science/) # World's First Robot Astronaut Makes Space Station Small Talk by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Dec 20, 2013 12:52 PM UTC  epa03996725 A handout picture taken in early December 2013 and released by Kibo Robot Project on 20 December 2013 shows humanoid communication robot Kirobo (R) and Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata at space in the International Space Station (ISS). On 06 December, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Koichi Wakata and robot astronaut Kirobo held a conversation experiment on board the International Space Station (ISS). Kirobo is jointly developed by Dentsu Inc. (Dentsu), the University of Tokyo's Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology (RCAST), Robo Garage Co., Ltd. (Robo Garage) and Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC). EPA/KIBO ROBOT PROJECT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES epa03996725 A handout picture taken in early December 2013 and released by Kibo Robot Project on 20 December 2013 shows humanoid communication robot Kirobo (R) and Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata at space in the International Space Station (ISS). On 06 December, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Koichi Wakata and robot astronaut Kirobo held a conversation experiment on board the International Space Station (ISS). Kirobo is jointly developed by Dentsu Inc. (Dentsu), the University of Tokyo's Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology (RCAST), Robo Garage Co., Ltd. (Robo Garage) and Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC). EPA/KIBO ROBOT PROJECT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALESEPA by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Dec 20, 2013 12:52 PM UTC In what’s being billed as the first conversation of its kind, the world’s first humanoid robot astronaut [had a chat](http://www.afp.com/en/news/topstories/japan-robot-astronaut-talks-santa-first-chat-spaceman) with the Japanese commander of the International Space Station. “Santa Claus will come to space,” Kirobo — the 13-inch android that has been programmed to communicate in Japanese and is based on the animation character Astro Boy — told astronaut Koichi Wakata. Wakata and Kirobo made small talk on Dec. 6, footage of which was released on Friday, AFP [reports](http://www.afp.com/en/news/topstories/japan-robot-astronaut-talks-santa-first-chat-spaceman). The conversation, while a little stilted, ranged from what toys Kirobo wanted from Santa (a toy rocket) to how he was coping with the zero-gravity environment. Kirobo reached the space station on Aug. 10, while Wakata arrived at the ISS in November. Kirobo is a joint creation by the advertising firm Dentsu, the University of Tokyo, robot developer Robo Garage and automaker Toyota. It has been designed to act as a mediator between a person and a machine, and also as a possible companion for isolated astronauts. “When people develop a relationship, it is an accumulation of small bits of communication,” said developer Tomotaka Takahashi. “We’ve learned important tips to develop a robot that can communicate with people more.” \[[_AFP_](http://www.afp.com/en/news/topstories/japan-robot-astronaut-talks-santa-first-chat-spaceman)\] International Space Station: Kirob, Robot Astronaut, Makes Small Talk ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7218499/worlds-first-robot-astronaut-makes-space-station-small-talk/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7218499/worlds-first-robot-astronaut-makes-space-station-small-talk/"},"headline":"World's First Robot Astronaut Makes Space Station Small Talk","datePublished":"2013-12-20T12:52:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-18T14:45:17.100Z","description":"In what’s being billed as the first conversation of its kind, the world’s first humanoid robot astronaut had a chat with the Japanese commander of...","url":"https://time.com/archive/7218499/worlds-first-robot-astronaut-makes-space-station-small-talk/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb7a0cb0d424170ee/6998b5929fbc7cebacd982a6/03996725-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb7a0cb0d424170ee/6998b5929fbc7cebacd982a6/03996725-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Humanoid communication robot Kirobo and Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata","caption":"Humanoid communication robot Kirobo and Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata","creditText":"EPA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/archive/7218499/worlds-first-robot-astronaut-makes-space-station-small-talk/","name":"World's First Robot Astronaut Makes Space Station Small Talk"}}]}] ```