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The robots we've sent thus far seem far more limited than what humans could do with their own hands and standard tools and lab equipment. We wait decades to ma

The robots we've sent thus far seem far more limited than what humans could do with their own hands and standard tools and lab equipment. We wait decades to maybe get a tiny sample of a rock.

idlewords 3y ago
This is a common thing that trips people up — you can't compare the capabilities of robots on Mars with what humans can do on Earth. You have to compare like with like, and a human crew on Mars would essentially be living in a Level 4 biocontainment facility and remotely operating the same kind of robots we could send to the planet autonomously. And their effective time available for work would be worse even than ISS, where the entire station (6 people) does something like 35 hours/week of science. Robotic Mars exploration has made huge progress on what is a shoestring budget compared to boondoggles like Artemis or ISS. Just look at the improvement between Sojourner and Ingenuity and imagine what an adequately funded robotic exploration program could look like.
- jodrellblank 3y ago
  > "worse even than ISS, where the entire station (6 people) does something like 35 hours/week of science." You may have seen China launching their youngest ever crew to their space station this week, and I noticed the quotes from the three crew members: "I'm solely focused on the mission, on how to accomplish the mission successfully. I have to get prepared every minute, every second, and this was my aspiration when I joined the Air Force, and that aspiration has never changed," said Tang Hongbo, Commander. "I feel that I am fully prepared physically, mentally and technically. I am confident to complete this upcoming flight mission. In fact, to be honest, I can't wait to carry out the mission now." - Tang Shengjie, Operator. "Talking about the roles and responsibilities, I will try my best to complete the routine maintenance of the space station" - Jiang Xinlin, Operator. One of those sounds less exciting than the others. [1] https://news.cgtn.com/news/2023-10-25/China-unveils-Shenzhou-17-crew-for-space-station-mission-1obkmdpDOx2/index.html https://news.cgtn.com/news/2023-10-25/China-unveils-Shenzhou...

The robots we've sent thus far seem far more limited than what humans could do with their own hands and standard tools and lab equipment. We wait decades to maybe get a tiny sample of a rock.

idlewords 3y ago

This is a common thing that trips people up — you can't compare the capabilities of robots on Mars with what humans can do on Earth. You have to compare like with like, and a human crew on Mars would essentially be living in a Level 4 biocontainment facility and remotely operating the same kind of robots we could send to the planet autonomously. And their effective time available for work would be worse even than ISS, where the entire station (6 people) does something like 35 hours/week of science. Robotic Mars exploration has made huge progress on what is a shoestring budget compared to boondoggles like Artemis or ISS. Just look at the improvement between Sojourner and Ingenuity and imagine what an adequately funded robotic exploration program could look like.

jodrellblank 3y ago
> "worse even than ISS, where the entire station (6 people) does something like 35 hours/week of science." You may have seen China launching their youngest ever crew to their space station this week, and I noticed the quotes from the three crew members: "I'm solely focused on the mission, on how to accomplish the mission successfully. I have to get prepared every minute, every second, and this was my aspiration when I joined the Air Force, and that aspiration has never changed," said Tang Hongbo, Commander. "I feel that I am fully prepared physically, mentally and technically. I am confident to complete this upcoming flight mission. In fact, to be honest, I can't wait to carry out the mission now." - Tang Shengjie, Operator. "Talking about the roles and responsibilities, I will try my best to complete the routine maintenance of the space station" - Jiang Xinlin, Operator. One of those sounds less exciting than the others. [1] https://news.cgtn.com/news/2023-10-25/China-unveils-Shenzhou-17-crew-for-space-station-mission-1obkmdpDOx2/index.html https://news.cgtn.com/news/2023-10-25/China-unveils-Shenzhou...