NASA also plans on periodically upgrading in the coming years.

The first upgrade, according to Verdeyen, is to add a set of legs. Right now, the robot consists of two arms and hands, a torso and a helmeted head. Legs have been built for it but there was no time to get them ready for the Discovery mission.

At this point, the robot will be attached to a pedestal on the space station and it will work in place. By the end of the year, engineers hope to ship one or two leg attachments for installation to the station.

With a pair of legs, the robot could around the station. A single leg, meanwhile, could be easily attached to the outside the space station so it can assist astronauts during spacewalks.

Next year, NASA hopes to upgrade the robot's torso, giving it new electronics and computer chips. And at some point, engineers want to add a battery so Robonaut can move freely about the space station -- as well as outside it -- without being plugged in.