NASA plans to use robots to service new habitable worlds telescope instead of astronauts

NASA is conducting tests to optimize the transport of organs intended for transplant procedures using unmanned aerial vehicles (drones).

Beyond Visual Line of Sight Flight Test

In a recent trial conducted at the Langley Research Center in Virginia, a drone transported a kidney on a route that exceeded the operator's 'line of sight.' This means the device crossed a distance where the pilot could no longer visually see the equipment.

Overcoming Technical Safety Barriers

Ensuring the drone remains visible is an established safety standard. To overcome this limitation in urban environments, NASA implemented supplementary radios. These radios allow for monitoring of the equipment from a control room located more than one kilometer away. The entire flight was executed following the guidelines of the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and took place in an area designated for autonomous navigation testing.

It is important to note that the kidney used in this test was not suitable for human transplantation, being used exclusively for viability data collection. Scientists will conduct a subsequent analysis to verify if the organ suffered any tissue damage or if there were detrimental temperature variations during transit.

Logistics and the Last Mile Concept

The ultimate purpose of the collaboration between NASA and the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) is to make feasible flights covering up to 24 kilometers between different hospitals. Given the limited preservation time of organs outside the body, speed is a decisive factor. Drones offer an advantage over larger aircraft due to their ability to land in hard-to-reach or densely populated areas, thus bypassing ground traffic.

The space agency anticipates that this technology will function as a 'last mile' service. The concept is analogous to commercial delivery logistics, where the main transit is carried out by larger vehicles, and the drone assumes the final phase of the journey, delivering the organ directly to the hospital where the patient awaits surgery.