NASA expects that the robot eventually will be able to help shoulder responsibility for maintenance jobs.

(Kazan, August 4, Tatar-Inform). A NASA robot earmarked for duty on the International Space Station this fall has already begun tweeting about its upcoming mission.

"Check out this photo of me with the STS-133 crew. It is so nice of them to give me a ride up to ISS," Robonaut 2 tweeted this weekend at its new Twitter account, @AstroRobonaut. "R2," as the robot is nicknamed, will get shown off to reporters Wednesday at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

But the tweeting R2 isn't joining the STS-133 mission on the space shuttle Discovery just to keep NASA's social network entertained. The second-generation robot produced from a 3-year-old joint venture between NASA and General Motors is described as able to handle tools and interfaces more than four times faster than its predecessor.

NASA says the robot has enough dexterity to use the same tools now being used by astronauts.

NASA expects that the robot eventually will be able to help shoulder responsibility for maintenance jobs, including those deemed repetitive or too dangerous for humans, CBS News reports.

*Sh