An astronaut has successfully controlled a robot on Earth with micrometer precision, despite being 400km up and travelling at speeds of 28,800km/h.

Andreas Mogensen, the first Dane in space, used a feedback system to "feel" what he was doing 400km away. He commanded the Interact Centaur rover in real-time, using a joystick to drive it around before taking control of its robotic arm to place a peg into a hole on a circuit board.

The experiment was designed to replicate connecting a wire on another planet. With a tolerance of just 150 micrometers -- or less than one sixth of a millimetre -- it required precision and delicacy from both robot and human operator