Martin said the operation was performed in 32 sequences, during which the plane flew in arcs, putting it into free fall and creating weightless conditions for 22 seconds each time. In a specially developed operation theater aboard the plane, surgical instruments were held in place by powerful magnets and the surgeons by harnesses.

The facility, developed with the help of a elevator manufacturing company, is intended to be set up in the International Space Station and possibly in the base planned on the moon. There is project, supported by the European Space Agency, to develop robot surgeons, which would perform complex medical operations in space, guided by real surgeons on earth.

While in normal conditions, the operation could be performed in a straightforward manner using local anesthesia. But, in a zero gravity situation, the work is harder and the patient's body reacts differently, Martin said.

He added that cardiac output is reduced, which creates vascular stress. Blood does not pump in the same way and it flows out of a wound in spheres. The surgeon had to create a special vacuum aspirator to contain this.

According to Bordeaux hospital sources, the patient, Philippe Sanchot, was chosen as he is a bungee-jumper and accustomed to dramatic gravitational shifts. The surgeons as well as the patient had undergone training in zero gravity machines.

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