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Space

Cimon the robot blasts off to the International Space Station

By New Scientist and Press Association

29 June 2018

Cimon the robot

Cimon is on the way to the ISS

NASA

A second-hand SpaceX rocket has blasted off to the International Space Station, carrying a robot with artificial intelligence and other station supplies.

The shipment – packed into a Dragon capsule that is also recycled – should reach the station on Monday.

This marked SpaceX’s fastest reflight of a rocket booster. The same first-stage booster launched the planet-hunting TESS satellite in April, while the capsule flew in 2016.

The Dragon will deliver the robot Cimon, which standsĀ for Crew Interactive Mobile Companion and is pronounced Simon.

The round, 3D-printed German Space Agency robot, which…

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