As part of the April 3-20 NEEMO (for NASA Extreme Environmental Mission Operation) 9 project, a joint effort of the U.S. space agency NASA, the Canadian Space Agency, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and McMaster University’s Center for Minimal Access Surgery (CMAS) at St. Joseph’s Healthcare, surgeon Mehran Anvari, took part in a six-hour experiment using a new, portable robot prototype system to stitch a simulated patient aboard the undersea laboratory Aquarius off Key Largo, Florida. According to the Hamilton Spectator, Anvari made a big breakthrough by overcoming a one-second delay between his movements and those of the robot arms 2,000 kilometers away and 19 meters underwater.