In the year 2022 the only astronauts outside the Earth they are in the International Space Station. If any of them suffers an accident or is diagnosed with a serious illnessthere is an emergency rocket for the astronaut to be back on Earth in hours, where he will be treated by doctors.
But what if an astronaut is injured or needs an operation and is on the moon base, or on his way to Mars? It is not possible to return to Earth, or at least it is not possible without taking days or months.
NASA has already thought about it, and that is why it has announced that will test the MIRA surgeon robot on the International Space Station (ISS), developed over 20 years by the Virtual Incision company. You can see it in action in the opening video of the news.
LOOK is a RAS, a miniaturized robot for assisted surgery. It was not developed for NASA, but for use in hospitals.
NASA has been interested in its small sizelittle bigger than a mixer, and because it only weighs 900 grams. So it’s ideal for transporting on a spacecraft, where cargo weight and size are critical.
LOOK works remotely but using a wire. The surgeon stands in front of a television or monitor and has special controls that control the robot during the operation. The idea is that in a hospital there is a single control center with the controls, and the robot surgeon is taken from one operating room to another to operate.
As we see in the video manipulates objects and performs the sewing movement with great precision.
It is not explained in the press release How will NASA use this surgeon robot?. It only says that it will be transported to the ISS in 2024, and cut-and-sew tests will be carried out on human tissue. But, Will you control it from the station itself, or from Earth?
Perhaps ground control will be feasible from the ISS, because it is at a distance of 400 kilometers, and with a good connection. latency could be acceptable. But if the MIRA surgeon robot is on the Moon, or on Mars, the latency from the surgeon’s order until the robot fulfills it, could be unfeasible in a highly precise job such as a surgical operation.
There are many unanswered questions, but NASA has almost two years to polish this issue. It could be the solution to operate or sew astronauts in space.