Russia and robots: Steel junk or a brave new world?

Russia likes to boast of its robots - but at the same time it seems to have a somewhat troubled relationship with them. It has endured a series of very public robotic mishaps, but all is not lost. Amid much fanfare and praise for the Roscosmos space agency, Russian robot Fedor was launched into space on board a Soyuz 14 spacecraft in August. Fedor made history as the first such robot ever to be sent into space by Russia, and within moments he was reporting on his progress and all was apparently going to plan.But then, mission control in Houston broke the news that Fedor's attempt to dock with the International Space Station (ISS) had to be aborted because of a technical problem. To be fair to Fedor, he was not to blame. Despite state media touting him as a major breakthrough, and other incorrect reports suggesting that he was piloting the spacecraft, he did little but talk.