“Push the green retractor butt—” He was cut off when the Berg’s engines roared to a higher pitch and the vehicle vaulted into the air.

Once it reached the port's retractor mechanism, the automated system clamped on to the boom and pulled it in, aligning and orienting the probe automatically.

Open surgery uses age-old tools like needles and thread, scalpels and metal retractors, which are sterilized and reused.