Local Robotics Team collaborates with University Professor

A local First Lego League Robotics Team, the Rocketeers, is collaborating with a professor at the University of Louisville to develop an approach to performing surgery in space for extended space journeys. Dr. George M. Pantalos, Professor of Cardiovascular, Thoracic Surgery, and Bioengineering, at the University of Louisville, is mentoring the Rocketeers, a team of 4th through 8th graders from local Loudoun County public schools. Dr. Pantalos has been working with NASA and with researchers at Carnegie Melon University to develop space surgery techniques in a weightless environment using a clear, rigid, plastic bubble attached to the surgery area. The clear plastic bubble provides a sterile surgery portal and is necessary to retain the body fluids in a weightless environment. The Rocketeers are assisting with the effort by designing and producing a flexible version of the bubble on a 3-D printer provided by a local high school, with the help of Rushil Joshi, a local high school student. The use of a flexible bubble will enable surgery on more body areas than currently possible with a rigid surgery bubble. The Rocketeers compete in a local robotics competition in November, where they will present their research.