The first-ever surgical robot arrived at the International Space Station this month, where it will practice performing surgery at the direction of a surgeon located 250 miles below in Nebraska. MIRA (Miniaturized Invivo Robotic Assistant) is built to emulate a human surgeon in a hospital operating room, using its left arm to grasp, and right arm to cut. While the early-stage technology lays the groundwork for medical solutions during long-term space travel, the more graspable vision—though, in practice, also likely to be several years away—is for MIRA to be able to perform surgery in remote areas that lack the appropriate specialists, such as in rural areas or on battlefields.
