Posted on 02/13/2006 6:23:25 PM PST by KevinDavis
The old “humans vs. robots” debate is very familiar to newspaper editorial writers: robots are better than humans, therefore robots should be in space and humans should not. But there is a new humans vs. robots debate that is being overlooked. The outcome of this new debate will have a decisive influence on space policy.
The old humans vs. robots debate is about the merits of human spaceflight. Everyone agrees that robots should be in space, so the only contentious issue is whether humans should be up there: pro-human-spaceflight vs. anti-human-spaceflight. This is where the new debate comes in. The new debate observes that:
Anti-human-spaceflight activists are human.
(Excerpt) Read more at thespacereview.com ...
Space development will be by robotics. End of story.
Space development will be by the Chinese because they are willing to spend the money and gain the high ground. End of story?
Don't think so...
I'm not sure if everyone does agree that robots should be in space. We certainly have not made much of an effort in that regard. We're way behind the curve.
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