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That's a good point but humans would easily beat out the utility of any probe if we get to that capability. It's not just a question of mobility and manual dext

That's a good point but humans would easily beat out the utility of any probe if we get to that capability. It's not just a question of mobility and manual dexterity. We do have very capable robotics. The even bigger factor here is light lag. Even if we don't bother landing humans on Mars, it would still be very useful to have some in orbit to be able to have a real time feed on the ground as opposed to anywhere between the 3 to 22 minutes (one way!) delay that it is from Earth. While our automation is getting better, it is nowhere close to matching that of a human scientist for at least several decades yet.

skybrian 6y ago
Yes, the lag is very limiting, but on the other hand, the scientists can go home to their families after work, rather than being away from home for many months. Or maybe work from home? That’s gotta make up for a lot. Scientific experiments often take a lot of time and patience anyway. There are some mild improvements to autonomy. Apparently this rover is somewhat more self-driving? The helicopter apparently won’t do much, but maybe on another mission it will.