RODENT EXPERIMENTS ARE PLANNED ON THE ISS, WITH AN EARLY VALIDATION FLIGHT SCHEDULED IN MID-2014. CURRENT PLANS REQUIRE THAT FLIGHT CREW MANUALLY DISSECT THE EXPERIMENTAL ANIMALS, CONSUMING SIGNIFICANT CREW TIME. DEPLOYMENT OF A SURGICAL ROBOT, TELEOPERATED BY GROUND STAFF TO PERFORM THE MAJORITY OF DISSECTION TASKS, SHALL SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE CREW TIME COMMITMENTS. IN ADDITION TO BUYING BACK CREW TIME, THE INSTALLATION SHALL PROVIDE DRAMATIC DEMONSTRATION OF LONG DISTANCE TELEOPERATION OF A SURGICAL ROBOT AND ENABLE MORE COMPLEX PROCEDURES IN AND OUT OF THE MICROGRAVITY SCIENCE GLOVEBOX (MSG). WITH THE PROPER SIZE AND TYPE OF TOOLS, MANY MORE TASKS AND EXPERIMENTS CURRENTLY CONDUCTED IN THE GLOVE BOX BY CREW MEMBERS CAN POTENTIALLY BE COMPLETED BY STAFF MEMBERS VIA GROUND CONTROL.THE OVERARCHING AIM OF THE PROPOSED PHASE A STUDY IS TO DEFINE HARDWARE COMPONENTS FOR A ROBOTIC SYSTEM THAT SHALL ENABLE THE COMPLETION OF RODENT DISSECTION PROCEDURES WITHIN THE MSG. THE HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS SHALL GUIDE AN OPTIMAL DESIGN OF THE SURGICAL ROBOTIC ARMS AND THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE TOOLS BETWEEN THEM. A KEY DESIGN GOAL SHALL BE TO MAXIMIZE THE IN-MSG TASKS THAT CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED WITHOUT FLIGHT CREW INTERVENTION. TWO KEY AREAS THAT SHALL BE EXPLORED IN MORE DETAIL ARE 1) SURGICAL PROCEDURE DECOMPOSITION AND TOOL USAGE ANALYSIS, AND 2) APPROACHES TO ONGOING SYSTEM MAINTENANCE.