Russian spacecraft with humanoid robot docks at ISS

A Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying a humanoid robot successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday following a failed attempt.

A handout photo made available by the official website of the Russian State Space Corporation ROSCOSMOS shows Russian anthropomorphous robot Fedor (Skybot F-850) being tested ahead of its flight on board Soyuz MS-14 spacecraft at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, July 28, 2019. [Photo: EPA via IC/Space Center Yuzhny]

"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 on Saturday.

During the first docking attempt on 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.

The aborted docking might have been caused by a problem with a navigation system located on the ISS, TASS news agency reported earlier, citing a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) live broadcast.

The Soyuz MS-14 spacecraft was launched successfully on Thursday.