<p class="title">A ball-shaped artificial intelligence robot nicknamed the "flying brain" because it is trained to follow and interact with a German astronaut, blasted off Friday toward the International Space Station aboard SpaceX's Dragon cargo ship.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A new, spare hand for the station's robotic arm, an experiment to measure plant stress in space and a study of a new cancer treatment were also on board as the Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida at 5:42 am (0942 GMT).</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We have ignition and liftoff! The Falcon 9 rocket powers the Dragon spacecraft toward the International Space Station," said a NASA commentator as the white rocket soared skyward under cover of darkness on the early Florida morning.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The unmanned Dragon capsule carried 5,900 pounds (2,700 kilograms) on its 15th supply mission to the orbiting lab, as part of a $1.6 billion contract with NASA.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Both the capsule and the rocket have flown before. The Dragon sent cargo to space ion 2016 and the Falcon blasted off a NASA satellite two months ago.</p>
<p class="title">A ball-shaped artificial intelligence robot nicknamed the "flying brain" because it is trained to follow and interact with a German astronaut, blasted off Friday toward the International Space Station aboard SpaceX's Dragon cargo ship.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A new, spare hand for the station's robotic arm, an experiment to measure plant stress in space and a study of a new cancer treatment were also on board as the Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida at 5:42 am (0942 GMT).</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We have ignition and liftoff! The Falcon 9 rocket powers the Dragon spacecraft toward the International Space Station," said a NASA commentator as the white rocket soared skyward under cover of darkness on the early Florida morning.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The unmanned Dragon capsule carried 5,900 pounds (2,700 kilograms) on its 15th supply mission to the orbiting lab, as part of a $1.6 billion contract with NASA.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Both the capsule and the rocket have flown before. The Dragon sent cargo to space ion 2016 and the Falcon blasted off a NASA satellite two months ago.</p>