Robonaut and man in a close encounter of the 'hello' kind

Nasa's humanoid shows a firm grip of etiquette with international space station handshake

Astronauts and robots have united in space with a handshake.

The commander of the International Space Station, Daniel Burbank, shook hands on Wednesday with Robonaut – the first handshake between a human and a humanoid in space.

Nasa's Robonaut was launched in the shuttle Discovery last year to see how it one day might help astronauts perform space station chores.

Ground controllers uploaded software that enabled the robot, which resembles a human from the waist up, to extend its right hand, fingers outstretched.

Burbank took the mechanical hand and pumped it up and down. It was, he said, a firm handshake.