Monthly Archives: February 2024

A tiny robot has completed its first surgery in zero gravity on the International Space Station, operated by surgeons approximately 250 miles away.

February 10 saw the first surgery demo on simulated tissue in the lab thats currently circulating in orbit on the ISS. Surgeons in Lincoln, Nebraska operated the remote-controlled robot, known as space MIRA (Miniaturized In Vivo Robotic Assistant), reports CNN. The robot was developed by a team at the University of Nebraska, led by Nebraska Engineering professor Shane Farritor.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket gave spaceMIRA a ride into orbit on January 30 from Floridas Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and the robot arrived at the space station on February 1.

Looking forward, this could be a huge step forward for human space travel, offering the possibility to deliver complex medical procedures even when in orbit. It could also make a huge impact in establishing access to medical care in remote areas down on Earth too.

When it comes to space travel, journeying to other planets, like Mars, could take two years for a full round-trip. If medical emergencies happen during that time, this kind of technology could be life-saving.

Weighing just two pounds, spaceMIRA is about the same size as a microwave, making it the perfect size and weight to be well-suited for space travel. Part of the robot is inserted into the tissue to perform surgery, while using two arms to mimic the movements of a human surgeon.

It gives smaller hands and eyes to the surgeon (on Earth) and allows them to perform a lot of procedures minimally invasively, said Shane Farritor, cofounder and chief technology officer at Virtual Incision, the startup that created spaceMIRA.

One of the major challenges for remote surgery is a delay between commands from the surgeons and the robot, in situations where a one-second delay could prove fatal. spaceMIRAs delay is about 0.85 seconds, which didnt present many issues during these tests.

Five seconds would be an eternity in surgery, and a split second or a half a second is going to be significant. So, this was a big challenge, Dr. Michael Jobst, a colorectal surgeon who was part of the demonstration.

spaceMIRA is set to make its triumphant return to Earth in the spring.

Featured image: University of Nebraskas College of Engineering

Rachael Davies has spent six years reporting on tech and entertainment, writing for publications like the Evening Standard, Huffington Post, Dazed, and more. From niche topics like the latest gaming mods to consumer-faced guides on the latest tech, she puts her MA in Convergent Journalism to work, following avenues guided by a variety of interests. As well as writing, she also has experience in editing as the UK Editor of The Mary Sue , as well as speaking on the important of SEO in journalism at the Student Press Association National Conference. You can find her full portfolio over on Muck Rack or follow her on social media on X.

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Tiny robot's successful first surgery could have huge implications for space travel - ReadWrite

Healthcare innovations are not limited to the confines of Earth. As humanity reaches out to explore the vastness of space, a new paradigm in healthcare is being established. Astronauts in deep space face unique health challenges, from the effects of long-term exposure to space radiation to the psychological impact of isolation. Addressing these challenges has implications not only for the success of space missions but also for improving healthcare on Earth.

A key player in this field is Dorit Donoviel and her team at the Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH). Their work involves conducting and funding a variety of experiments, including research into balance in microgravity and ways for astronauts to produce their own drugs in space. These investigations aim to address the human health challenges in exploring deep space, such as space radiation affecting the entire body, mental health issues, the ability to provide healthcare, and the stability of food nutrients. To this end, the team is exploring the idea of genetically engineering biological organisms to produce nutrients and medications on the spot.

In the pursuit of successful deep space missions, the human microbiome emerges as a crucial area of study. The unique conditions of space can disrupt the balance of the microbiome, leading to adverse health effects for astronauts. Astromicrobiology, which involves understanding microbial persistence and succession in closed systems like spacecraft, is integral to mission planning and execution. Furthermore, understanding the effects of radiation exposure in space is crucial for developing effective risk reduction strategies. The study of the microbiome in space also provides insights into how space travel impacts the immune system and opens avenues for discovering new microorganisms with unique properties.

The challenges faced by astronauts, such as space radiation, mental health concerns, and healthcare delivery, necessitate innovative solutions. TRISH, a consortium involving Baylor College of Medicine, Caltech, and MIT, is working with NASA to create solutions for these challenges. These include on-demand drug production in space and genetically modified organisms for sustainable food and medicine. Innovations such as a star-shaped device for medication delivery and strategies for psychological resilience are also being explored.

Dr. Jon Bailey, a regional anesthesia specialist, is paving the way for surgery and pain management in space. His research involves evaluating the viability of using ultrasound guided perineural injections to administer regional anesthesia in a simulated microgravity environment. This method could provide a safer way to control pain for astronauts, potentially revolutionizing healthcare delivery in remote and extreme locations, including military and rescue operations.

In conclusion, the advancements in space healthcare promise a paradigm shift not only in how we approach health in space but also how we address health challenges on Earth. The work done by researchers and organizations such as Dorit Donoviel, TRISH, NASA, and BCMSpaceHealth is paving the way for medical breakthroughs that could benefit all of humanity.

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Space Health Challenges and Innovations in Deep Space Travel - Medriva

Fire on a spacecraft can be catastrophic. It can spread quickly in a confined space, and for trapped astronauts, there may be no escape. Its fading in time now, but Apollo 1, which was to be the first crewed Apollo mission, never got off the ground because of a fire that killed the crew. Thereve been other dangerous spacecraft fires too, like the one onboard the Russian Mir space station in 1997.

In an effort to understand how fire behaves in spacecraft, NASA began its Saffire (Spacecraft Fire Safety Experiment) in 2016. Saffire was an eight-year, six-mission effort to study how fire behaves in space. The final Saffire test was completed on January 9th.

Fire behaviour in buildings here on Earth is well-studied and well-understood. Fire prevention and suppression are important components in building design. It makes sense to bring that same level of understanding to space travel and even to surpass it.

How big a fire does it take for things to get bad for a crew? asked Dr. David Urban, Saffire principal investigator at NASAs Glenn Research Centre. This kind of work is done for every other inhabited structure here on Earth buildings, planes, trains, automobiles, mines, submarines, ships but we hadnt done this research for spacecraft until Saffire.

NASA has conducted six experiments under Saffire, and each one was conducted in an uncrewed Cygnus cargo vehicle after it completed its supply mission to the ISS. The vehicles are sent into the atmosphere to burn up, and the experiments are run prior to the vehicles destruction. Saffire 1 ran in 2016 inside an avionics bay with an airflow duct. The bay contained a cotton and fibreglass burn blend, which was ignited remotely with a hot wire.

Subsequent Saffire experiments tested how different materials burned, including the fire-resistant fabric Nomex and even acrylic spacecraft windows. Tests also included varied oxygen flows, different atmospheric pressures, and different oxygen levels. Each Saffire test generated important data on how fire behaves inside spacecraft.

The final segment of the Saffire program, Saffire-VI, was conducted on January 9th, 2024, prior to the uncrewed Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft carrying the experiment burning up during re-entry. Saffire-VI was different than its predecessors in the program because the experiment had higher oxygen content and lower pressure similar to actual conditions in spacecraft.

The Saffire flow unit is a wind tunnel, said Dr. Gary Ruff, Saffire project manager at NASAs Glenn Research Center. Were pushing air through it. Once test conditions are set, we run an electrical current through a thin wire, and the materials ignite.

Fire in a confined environment does more than just damage things and burn people. It also generates harmful combustion by-products. Alongside the predictable carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, a fire onboard a spacecraft can generate trace amounts of hydrogen fluoride, hydrogen chloride, and hydrogen cyanide. Hydrogen fluoride is a very toxic chemical, and exposure requires immediate medical attention. Hydrogen chloride is an irritant that can become fatal, and hydrogen cyanide can damage the brain, heart, and lungs and can also be fatal. A piece of equipment called the Combustion Product Monitor (CPM) instrument uses laser spectroscopy to analyze the contents of the smoke and detect these hazardous chemicals.

Cameras inside the experiment record what happens, while other instruments outside collect data. After the experiments collect their data, its downloaded before the Cygnus vehicle is sent plummeting toward its atmospheric destruction. By altering variables like oxygen content and flow and atmospheric pressure, the experiments gather data that the researchers use to build a predictive model of fire behaviour aboard a spacecraft.

Youve got a heat release rate and a rate of release of combustion products, Ruff said. You can take those as model input and predict what will happen in a vehicle.

At this point in time, humans are poised for a big leap. Were working towards establishing a presence on the Moon. From there, future crewed missions to Mars beckon. Researchers are studying how to protect astronauts health during those flights by understanding how their bodies respond to extended time in microgravity, exposure to radiation, and other hazards. Preventing fires and extinguishing them quickly are critical issues in spaceflight and astronaut safety, especially when astronauts are so far away theres no chance of any assistance.

The models built on Saffire data will help missions succeed and help everyone get home safely.

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NASA is Done Setting Fires Inside its Doomed Cargo Spacecraft - Universe Today

The story of mans foray into space is a thrilling one, encompassing war, technological innovation and the power of imagination. The story of the Black mans foray into space the subject of the documentary The Space Race comprises a different set of milestones. For African Americans who dreamed of traveling beyond the earths atmosphere, the barriers werent just physical or scientific, but also social and political.

Directed by Lisa Cortes and Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, The Space Race offers an alternative history of American space travel through interviews with pioneering figures including Ed Dwight, an Air Force captain who was the first Black trainee at the Aerospace Research Pilot School; and Guy Bluford, who became the first African American to go to space almost two decades later, in 1983.

But the films most fascinating revelation is that the Soviets beat the Americans in sending a Black person to space in 1980 with Arnaldo Tamayo Mndez, a Cuban pilot an achievement that never got its due during the Cold War.

This fact, mentioned only cursorily, reinforces the limitations of the movie (which also, it should be noted, features hardly any stories of Black women). A theme running through the interviews is that for the U.S. government, sending a Black astronaut to space was more a matter of propaganda than racial justice. Cortes and de Mendoza capture these contradictions through archival footage of Civil Rights leaders excoriating the nation for spending millions on space travel while poverty decimated communities on the ground.

But for the most part, The Space Race doesnt quite interrogate these tokenizing narratives, leaving the central question unaddressed: Can the glorified achievements of a few result in change for the many?

The Space Race Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 31 minutes. Watch on Disney+ and Hulu.

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'The Space Race' Review: Why Was NASA So White? - The New York Times

The New Corporate Frontier: Space and Its Implications

The corporate space race, spearheaded by companies like SpaceX, is transforming space travel and innovation. The rapid progression in technology and the commercialization of space exploration have led to a surge in the number of satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). This proliferation, however, has also sparked concerns about light pollution, atmospheric pollution, and satellite congestion in orbit. With a call for sustainable practices and collaboration between governments and private entities, the space race brings with it a gamut of challenges and opportunities.

The advent of the corporate space race has seen an influx of mass-produced satellites into LEO, resulting in increased light pollution. Thousands of satellites circling the Earth reflect sunlight, creating a condition known as skyglow. This phenomenon obscures celestial views and hampers astronomical research. Dr. Samantha Lawler, an associate professor of Astronomy at the University of Regina, has voiced concerns about unchecked satellite deployment and its potential adverse effects on space exploration. The need for guidelines that prioritize the preservation of the night sky and the advancement of scientific knowledge is more prominent than ever.

Ground-based telescopes, vital tools for unraveling the mysteries of the cosmos, are grappling with the challenges posed by these megaconstellations of satellites. The satellites in LEO, especially those from SpaceXs Starlink project, have obstructed telescopic space exploration both on the ground and in space. This obstruction has had a profound impact on astronomers work, leading to lost data and knowledge. The issue of light pollution is not only about preserving the beauty of the night sky but also about ensuring the continued advancement of scientific knowledge.

The growing number of satellites in LEO raises concerns about the sustainability of space exploration. The risk of a runaway collisional cascade, or the Kessler Syndrome, where the density of objects in LEO is high enough that collisions between objects could cause a cascade, is a real threat. Moreover, as these satellites reenter the Earths atmosphere, they pose risks of atmospheric pollution and ground casualties.

The issue has prompted calls for stronger regulations and government intervention. Governments worldwide need to establish transparent policies and guidelines to control the number of satellites in orbit. Collaboration between governments and private companies is crucial in this regard. A balanced approach that promotes innovation and sustains the health of our night skies is the need of the hour.

The corporate space race, while being a testament to human innovation and progress, brings with it significant challenges that need addressing. The unchecked proliferation of satellites in LEO can hamper astronomical research, affect the beauty of the night sky, and pose environmental and safety risks. A collaborative, regulated, and sustainable approach to space exploration is necessary to mitigate these concerns, preserving the night sky for future generations, while also advancing our understanding of the cosmos.

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The New Corporate Frontier: Implications of the Space Race on Ground-Based Telescopes and Astronomical Research - Medriva

University of Nebraska engineerSean Crimminsloads the robotic arm into its case. A surgeon on Earth will remotely guide the robot through a surgical simulation while it is on the International Space Station. Craig Chandler / University of Nebraska-Lincoln / University Communication and Marketing

Scientists have sent a small surgical robot to the International Space Station (ISS) where it will perform a simulation of surgery, remotely guided by an expert on Earth.

The research aims to learn more about how surgery might be conducted on long space missions that send humans to the moon, Mars or beyond, as well as on our home planet, where not everyone has access to a surgeon.

Its taken a lot of testing to build up to this, and were still a long way from telesurgery on an actual patient, Shane Farritor, an engineer at the University of NebraskaLincoln and one of the inventors of the robot, says in a statement. The first step is to demonstrate the technology.

The robot launched to the ISS on January 30 with a host of other scientific experiments. Named MIRA, or the Miniaturized In vivo Robotic Assistant, it arrived on February 1, according to NPRs Juliana Kim.

MIRA is developed by the Virtual Incision Corporation, and the experiment in space is made possible by a NASA grant to the University of Nebraska. Farritor, Virtual Incisions co-founder, started working on MIRA with his team almost 20 years ago.

Weighing only two pounds, the device is roughly 1,000 times lighter than existing robot-assisted surgery technologies, according to a statement from Virtual Incision. MIRA has two robotic arms, a camera and remote technology, per the Washington Posts Erin Blakemore. Its the first surgical robot on the ISS.

MIRA Surgical Robotic Platform

In an upcoming experiment, a surgeon on the ground in Lincoln, Nebraska, will guide MIRA through a surgical simulation using remote-controlled technology. MIRA will use its left arm to grasp and its right arm to cut.

The preliminary tests will be conducted on rubber bands, according to Space.coms Monisha Ravisetti. A spokesperson for Virtual Incision told the Washington Post that the experiments will take place in the second week of February.

One challenge with the simulated surgery is possible delays in communication, since the signal must transmit to and from the International Space Station, which is around 250 miles away.

The experiment will allow the team to test the impact of the space stations zero gravity environment on surgical tasks. But researchers are also interested in how the robot could be used on the ground, such as in rural areas or on military battlefields.

About one in three counties in the U.S. lack a surgeon, and the Association of American Medical Colleges predicts the nation could face a shortage of up to 30,000 surgeons within the next ten years.

While space travel is exciting to think about, there is also an immediate need on Earth to help patients get the care they need, Farritor says in a statement. Remote surgery has the potential to address these issues.

If you have a specialist whos a very good surgeon, that specialist could dial into different locations and help with telesurgery or remote surgery, Farritor said during a presentation last month, per Space.com. Only about 10 percent of operating rooms today are robotic, but we dont see any reason that shouldnt be 100 percent.

While there has been other research into remote surgery, the surgeon has typically been in the same operating room as the patient, according to Virtual Incision. Eventually, the company hopes to have surgeons control MIRA through a console during procedures.

Alongside the robot, several other experiments traveled to the ISS, including a 3D printer that creates small metal parts, an additional robotic arm and experiments to manufacture artificial retinas and regeneratecartilage tissue in space.

MIRA will return to Earth in the spring, and it will likely take at least a year to publish results from the experiment, according to the University of Nebraska.

As thrilling as it is to have our technology in space, we expect the impact of this research will be most notable on Earth, John Murphy, president and CEO of Virtual Incision, says in the companys statement.

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This Remotely Controlled Robot Will Conduct a Simulated Surgery on the International Space Station - Smithsonian Magazine

A Historic Mission Around the Moon

In a historic moment for Canada, astronaut Jeremy Hansen prepares to orbit the moon as part of NASAs Artemis II mission in 2025. This mission is a testament to the contributions of visionaries who have paved the way for Canadas involvement in space exploration. However, it also underscores the need for continued visionary investments to uphold Canadas stature in this field.

Canada has been a key player in space exploration, with Hansens upcoming mission highlighting this involvement. As the only Canadian on the crewed mission, Hansen signifies the collaborative nature of international space exploration. Alongside him will be American astronauts, emphasizing that space exploration is a global endeavor, not confined to one nation.

With the missions risks and the inherent challenges of space travel, the importance of good communication and preparation cannot be overstated. The crew undergoes rigorous training, including practicing living in mockups of their Orion spacecraft and staying fit in tiny spaces while floating. A portable exercise solution, the flywheel, has been introduced for astronauts on the spacecraft. This tool has its limitations and benefits, but it aids in keeping astronauts healthy and fit in the challenging environment of space.

Space exploration is not a solo endeavor but a collaborative one. The upcoming missions by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) in celebration of its 100th anniversary exemplify this. Col. Jeremy Hansen will be the first non-American to fly around the Moon on Artemis 2, while Col. Josh Kutryk will be the next Canadian to fly to the International Space Station aboard the new Boeing Starliner spacecraft. These missions demonstrate the collaboration between nations and the shared goal of exploring the final frontier.

The Artemis program aims to return astronauts to the moon, paving the way for future missions to Mars. The successful launch of the Nova-C lander, also known as Odysseus, is a significant step towards this goal. This mission is also crucial in the race against China, who aims to land its own crewed spacecraft on the moon by 2030.

As Jeremy Hansen reflects on his upcoming mission, there is a mix of excitement and apprehension. Embarking on a historic journey, he carries the hopes of a nation and the legacy of space exploration visionaries. His journey is a testament to the importance of international collaboration in space exploration and the need for continued investment in this field. As we look towards the future, the importance of astronaut health and fitness data from the Artemis 2 mission will be crucial in fortifying spacecraft design against risky vibrations for more ambitious moon landing missions later in the decade.

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Canadian Astronaut Jeremy Hansen: Reflecting on Canada's Role in Space Exploration and Preparing for Artemis II ... - Medriva