Engineers have used a flying drone to peer into the damaged reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on Sunday. The drone, which has been used by the US military,  reportedly weighs about 23kg and has the propensity to withstand winds of up to 20 knots.

Junichi Matsumoto, a company spokesman, said a camera was mounted on a remote-controlled helicopter to get pictures of the damaged reactors from above.

Scientists needed a better look at the damaged housings of reactors one, three, and four. The drone hovered over the plant for about 28 minutes at an altitude of 150 meters.

The T-Hawk drone was built by the American company Honeywell and can transmit ordinary pictures as well as infrared images.

The drone can travel at up to 150km/h and it has a ceiling reach of approximately 11km. The device has been instrumental in helping US forces detect objects like roadside bombs in Iraq.

It was hoped that the new images would inform the salvage planning process, as well as offer an accurate look at damage.

The drone joins a small army of robots helping Japan in the wake of multiple disasters. Arigato, Mr Roboto.

[Source: CNN]