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"Robots don't get anywhere near the effectiveness of boots on the ground, even with the most advanced robotic explorers we have today" Yes, that's why I said w
by melling 9y ago
"Robots don't get anywhere near the effectiveness of boots on the ground, even with the most advanced robotic explorers we have today"
Yes, that's why I said we accelerate the research into robotics.
No one wants to fund NASA to go to Mars. It'll cost $200 billion to get a dozen people there, then it'll cost even more to stay.
The DoD can spend a few billion in R&D, and that's a small project. We can give tax credits for R&D to private industry. The research doesn't even go on the NASA budget.
- pikchurn 9y agoI think you don't understand the vast chasm between robotic capability and humans, and what can reasonably be done to close that gap. You're talking about making some sort of robotic geologist/biologist in the literal sense -- a humanoid robot or equivalent functionality that is space hardened, resists abrasive dust like nothing we have on Earth, requires no on-site maintenance, and is autonomous enough to operate for 10's of minutes at a time as good as it would be if humans were at the helm and it was next door. I don't think you understand the scale of those requirements. It would be cheaper to send humans, even at absolutely ridiculous Apollo-on-steroid prices.
- melling 9y agoi didn’t say that the robots had to do everything that humans can. I said we should accelerate the improvements of robots and do what we can with them.