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.
Pantolos, Professor of Cardiovascular, Thoracic Surgery, and Bioengineering,
at the University of Louisville, is mentoring the Rocketeers, a team of 4 th
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. 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.