Astronauts May Have Surgery in Space

The International Space Station, where many eye-opening researches on how to sustain human life in the space environment are carried out, will soon include revolutionary operations. The autonomous robot named ‘MIRA’, developed by the engineers of the University of Nebraska, will enable astronauts to undergo surgical operations in space.

MIRA, which is currently under development, will perform its first test mission on the space station in 2024. Testing and development of the robot will be carried out with a $100,000 award from the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to the university. So what has the robot achieved so far and what will it make possible?

He will be able to operate completely on his own, without the need for any surgical specialist:

• MIRA

MIRA has two main advantages that will enable surgical operations in space. The first of these is that it will enable operations through only a small incision in the body. Thus, surgeons will perform operations such as abdominal surgery with minimal damage. The second advantage is, of course, that the robot can be remotely controlled by surgeons if needed. In this way, surgeons will be able to perform surgical interventions on astronauts thousands of kilometers away. In this context, injured astronauts can be treated and operations such as removing the shrapnel stuck in the body will be possible.

The robot has given very successful results in the tests carried out so far. So much so that retired NASA astronaut Clayton Anderson previously managed to control the robot when it was 1,448 kilometers from the university.

The next main goal of the engineers will be to make the robot fully autonomous. Currently, the non-autonomous robot will have this feature with artificial intelligence under development. So much so that in the future, astronauts will start the operation with just one click of a button, and the robot will perform the operation by itself.