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Intro music.

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NASA's Robonaut has taken its first steps!

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During recent tests at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, the experimental robot moved hand-over-hand outside a mock spacecraft,

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confirming that it could make repairs or install parts.

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It was mounted to a platform floating on a cushion of air, eliminating friction and simulating conditions an astronaut --

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or Robonaut -- would experience in zero gravity.

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The humanoid robot also practiced gliding from one test station to the next on the gyro-stabilized wheels of a Segway scooter.

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The wheeled test proved that a single operator could remotely control the robot's mobility and its dexterity at the same time.

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"We've copied the functions of a human, but not necessarily the form. From a distance it looks a little bit like an astronaut,

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but the real objective has been to build a machine to work with the same tools and EVA (extravehicular activity) interfaces that we've built for our crew.

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It's designed to work in space with, and similar to, humans."

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The Robonaut Project is a joint effort between Johnson Space Center and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

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The goal is to build robots that could stay permanently on the outside of spacecraft for routine maintenance or emergencies.

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