"Susan, get ready and turn on the remote surgery system. Dr. Yang is going to operate on Steven."
Collins, who was more familiar with Houston's communications with the International Space Station than the chief medical officer who arrived from Washington, became the de facto coordinator of the operation.
The communication network composed of three satellites is the only connection between the International Space Station and Houston, and it is also the only guarantee for Steven's life.
Susan and David Holly were on the verge of despair. After hearing the order, they took action immediately. No matter whether it was possible or not, this was their only hope.
They had already installed and fixed the remote surgery system. The sterile-packaged robotic arm was protected by a shield. The flatbed that replaced the operating bed was also firmly fixed. Steven was firmly fixed on the flatbed by the restraint device.
In a microgravity environment, if it is not well fixed, any movement of the human body in weightlessness will be fatal.
This is the first space surgery in human history, and it uses a remote surgery system. The International Space Station has prepared so many equipment and drugs, and there are not many times when real doctors are needed. The last medical incident was when an astronaut suddenly suffered an emergency.
A thrombosis of the left internal jugular vein occurred, causing doctors on the ground to be highly nervous.
After assessing the condition, the doctors first used the anticoagulant drug enoxaparin, which was reserved in the space station's medicine box, for subcutaneous injection. 43 days later, the rocket sent a batch of oral anticoagulant drug apixaban to the International Space Station. The astronaut recovered under the drug treatment.
, returned successfully.
This time, Steven's condition was completely different. It could not be treated with drugs and required interventional surgery.
"Do you need to adjust the posture of the space station?" David Hawley became Susan's only helper.
Richard is responsible for the engineering issues of the space station: "Maintain the original posture, check the air pressure of the space station, check the power system, and pay attention to the impact of micrometeorites on the space station. If everything is ready, communication tests will begin."
The space network relies on a system of tracking and data relay satellites positioned in high orbit, which mainly uses radio signals to communicate with ground antennas. After receiving the signals, the ground antennas then send these signals to NASA through fixed lines
After that, NASA's computer system converts these signals into readable data. When the data is sent back to the International Space Station from Earth, this process is reversed with a delay of less than 1 second.
If the delay does not exceed 1 second, the signal is in a stable state. Sometimes due to interference for various reasons, the signal weakens, and communication will be delayed or interrupted.
Even if the signal can be stabilized, a delay of 1 second is fatal to this high-risk surgery.
Not long ago, the International Space Station's network communications underwent an expansion and now has a bandwidth of 600 megabits. Strictly speaking, this bandwidth cannot meet the needs of remote surgery.
The four flexible robotic arms were jointly researched by NASA, MIT, and Intuition. It should be the best surgical system in the world at present. It not only has good accuracy, but also has good flexibility and stability, but it still has flaws.
There is, no good tactile feedback.
The original intention of developing surgical robots was to be used by NASA for medical treatment of astronauts on the space station, and was later converted to civilian use.
Therefore, NASA's surgical robot is the originator of the entire surgical robot industry.
There is a room in the Houston Ground Control Center dedicated to operating the space station's surgical robots. Jim Bassa has sent many security guards to take charge of safety protection. The entrances, aisles, elevators, and stairs are all strictly protected to prevent interference in the surgical process.
In addition to Space City security, the Houston Police Department, and the FBI have all sent police officers to protect this building, Jim Bartha has the strongest authority at this time.
The operation room was turned into a safe house. Only four people, Huang Jiacai, Cheng Liquan, Johannesson, and Collins, were inside. The others were all outside. Engineers dealing with emergencies could only stay on standby outside the isolation zone of the room.
Journalists are restricted from entering this building. Any reporter who infiltrates may affect the operation due to rashness, making all efforts in vain.
Even in the face of overwhelming criticism, Jim Bartha ruthlessly blocked reporters outside Space City Houston, and the entire Space City was closed.
Once emergency relief reached the national level, Jimbasa received direct authorization from the president, and various powerful supports followed.
Aerospace giants such as Raytheon Technologies, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Dynamics, and Northrop Grumman are ready to provide support. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 is ready to take off again at any time for intensive launches to bring possible medical supplies.
Even sending people to the International Space Station.
Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic, both private space companies, have also joined the rescue plan to accept deployment.
Symantec is responsible for the security of communication networks between the space station and the ground, preventing troublesome hackers from intruding and disrupting remote surgery operations.
The meteorological department upgrades the level of weather monitoring and provides weather forecasts at any time. Meteorology is the biggest unstable factor that interferes with communications.
On the surface, everything seems calm, but all the support forces are in place, for no other reason than the success of this operation.
Every request from Yang Ping will be turned into an order, and finally into effective resources to support this operation.
From a medical technical point of view, Steven's remote surgery is almost impossible to achieve. No one can operate telemedicine equipment to this extent: freely entering and exiting the blood vessels of the brain stem.
But this Chinese can do it, he is the only hope, and all resources will surround him to serve the purpose.
"Communication connection!"
"start testing!"
All the 600 Mbps bandwidth is used for surgery, but the communication is still unstable due to signal problems.
Yang Ping began to operate the four robot arms. It would be a huge challenge to overcome the interference of random and irregular delays and interruptions.
Network test, picture delay, unable to achieve surgical accuracy.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Can the network speed and stability be improved? If so, the success rate will be higher.
Yang Ping stopped testing. He hoped that the network speed would be faster and the network would be more stable.
Jim Bartha and Richard came into the "safe house". Richard said: "There are two solutions that can help us, and both can be called at any time. The Broadband Global Communications Satellite Communications System (WGS), which is a military communications system, has the White House
It’s not a problem to come forward and lend it to us temporarily. Another way is to use all the satellites of SpaceX’s Starlink program to support this operation, but there is no guarantee that there will be no delays. There are too many unstable factors in space communication.”
Indeed, the International Space Station communications supported by three satellites are difficult to support such a high-risk operation.
If you can use either of these two communication systems to obtain strong and stable communication, the success rate of the operation will be higher. At this time, even a little improvement is meaningful.
"The Broadband Global Communications Satellite Communications System (WGS), the U.S. global military needs its support. We don't know how much communication capabilities can be mobilized for us. It will be more convenient to call SpaceX's Starlink satellites. It can stop all current services and temporarily use them for us."
rescue mission."
Yang Ping thought for a while: "You decide which one to use. I need more powerful network communication, and as soon as possible!"
Even if there is no delay, using a robot to perform this kind of surgery is like going to heaven. There are various risks hidden in it. The more chances of winning, the more hope.
With just a phone call, spaceX immediately supported the rescue mission. The headquarters of the Starlink project began to adjust the satellite connections, all of which were connected to NASA's International Space Station and Houston to form a dedicated network for surgery.
Weather will affect the stability of the network. Meteorological monitoring agencies monitor the cloud images over Houston 24 hours a day. Once cloud flow is concentrated and there are signs of heavy rain, cloud dispersal methods will be used if necessary.
The communication problem has been solved. Although it has not fully met the requirements, it is already the best condition.
The International Space Station has aged over the years and has been suffering from minor problems. In addition to communication problems, other problems, such as power failures and micrometeorite impacts, are all potential risks. There were cracks in the module built by Japan, which almost killed several astronauts.
Life.
Small artery embolism in the brainstem, communication delay or interruption caused by any reason, shaking of the patient's body, and loss of control of the robotic arm will all cause Yang Ping to lose control of the operation.
When the catheter, guide wire and coil enter the target blood vessel, once these problems occur, it is almost like a sudden power outage during the operation, and everything goes dark.
Just like a racing driver, suddenly everything goes dark and he can't see anything. No matter how long the period lasts or how good the racing driver is, the result will be a crash and death.
Test the communication again! Much improved than before.
"Power Systems?"
Richard asked in another room, which was the command center of the rescue mission.
"Checking!"
David Holly was a little nervous and was testing the power system with instruments in his trembling hands.
Yang Ping sat in front of the operating console, came into view, and began to become familiar with the operation of the robotic arm in the new network environment again.
"Someone is attacking our communication system!"
Symantec's security team discovered dozens of attacks, all of which were mitigated by their protection systems, and they immediately reported them to Jim Bassa.
"Damn it, why are people attacking us at this time? We are saving people!" Jim Basa's head was getting big.
Richard was also very nervous: "Aren't we a dedicated communication connection? Isn't it isolated from the external network?"
Symantec's network security expert shook his head and said: "As long as the device has the physical ability to connect to the Internet, there is no such thing as isolation. But don't worry, these attacks are child's play and we have resolved them."
With so many risk factors, and now another hacker attack, Jim Bass is very worried. In the past, American high school students hacked into the website of the Department of Defense.
"Maybe they are restless middle school students? These restless guys," Jim Bass cursed.
Cybersecurity experts agree with Jim Bassa: "Looking at the attack methods, they are relatively immature. They should be middle school students playing around."
In the sky 400 kilometers above the ground, the International Space Station flies over people's heads at a speed of more than 28,000 kilometers per hour. Who would have thought that there is an astronaut on it preparing to undergo surgery.
