Posted on 06/16/2010 11:34:36 AM PDT by Starman417
>>>That enough for you or should I go on?
Can’t we get many of those same benefits from an unmanned space program?
Not currently.
Robotics, for example, cannot assemble a 1km drill rig on the surface of Mars to pull up big core samples, analyze them and discover the microbes that are probably present there. A mission like that could be conducted by humans in the next 10 years and at a cost that is modest by the standards that this administration has been spending money.
Robots are hobbled in the same way that the deep sea rovers are hobbled in their work around the leaking well. Robots seem to amuse people, but humans on other planets inspire.
So, in my opinion, no— many of those things (and many others) cannot be truly replaced by robots. At least not until several major breakthroughs in robotics and AI takes place. If we are to be a serious, space-capable civilization, if we are to be a nation that wishes to dominate the high-ground, we need to have the ability to quickly and easily transport humans into deep space.
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