Although manned missions are more expensive and dangerous than robotic missions, they are necessary for the success of the space exploration program. Space exploration is the epitome of human adventure
Jim Bell, Scientific American
The current period is particularly exciting in the field of space exploration. The American space agency, NASA, currently operates more than 50 robotic spacecraft, which explore the Earth and reach the vastness of the solar system, from the planet Mercury to Pluto and beyond. Another 40 unmanned NASA missions are in development and space agencies in Europe, Russia, Japan, India and China are operating or building their own robotic space vehicles.
With such a fleet at our disposal, which collects scientific data from so many directions, one would think that researchers like myself, who are involved in the exploration of space by robotic means, would oppose sending astronauts into space and see it as an expensive and unnecessary task. But in fact, the opposite is true: many of us see manned missions as a noble goal in their own right and a necessary component of space science in the 21st century.
Although manned missions are more expensive and dangerous than robotic missions, they are necessary for the success of the space exploration program. why? Because space exploration is an adventure, a human journey, which in the past won enormous public sympathy, precisely because of the pride it arouses in us.
When President John F. Kennedy pledged on behalf of the American people to send astronauts to the moon, he did so as a demonstration of the power of democracy, not science. As a byproduct, extraordinary scientific studies were conducted on the moon that eventually led to an understanding of its origin.
More than that, the Apollo program to land a man on the moon, served as an inspiration to an entire generation of researchers and engineers - who paved the way for robotic missions as well as for a large part of the technologies we take for granted today.
Ending the Apollo program prematurely was a blunder. NASA's continued strategy for manned space exploration focused on the missions of space shuttles and satellite space stations, and turned out to be a dreary plan full of tragic failures.
The recent successes of the Mars rovers, the Cassini spacecraft to explore Saturn, and other robotic missions may hint at a resurgence, but the situation remains murky.
The decline in public interest in space exploration after the Apollo period gives its signs even today in discussions about the NASA budget and in the general skepticism that prevails about the future relevance of NASA, especially among the generation that is now joining the workforce. Further robotic mission victories will only be possible if public and political interest is restored and sustained over time through a vigorous program of manned space exploration.
Not everything is algorithms
Moreover, many future missions will require a human brain. Although robots have proven themselves in documenting and measuring the characteristics of distant places, they fall short of humans when it comes to judgment, making decisions while seeing the big picture, and drawing conclusions from past experience. Some of these abilities are programmable, and machine learning methods have indeed advanced a lot in recent decades. But the neural complexity often needed to make new discoveries—that necessary combination of logic, experience, and instincts used to solve mysteries—cannot be simply converted into a series of "if-then" commands in a computer algorithm. Robotic minds will long, if not forever, remain far behind in these capabilities, limiting the quality of science they can perform on other planets.
Robotic spacecraft were adapted to the first era of space exploration, when it was enough to fly a spacecraft to pass by a planet, or to land on an alien ground to make sensational discoveries. But this era is coming to an end. We are now entering a new era in space exploration, where we need to take a closer look at the landscapes of the planets and what lies beneath them, carefully studying their rocks, soils and atmospheres to reveal the history of our solar system.
There is no doubt that this kind of science needs human researchers. In the new age we will need bold and smart people, who will march us bravely to places where no robot can take us.
About the authorJim Bell is an astronomer and planetary scientist at Cornell University, and serves as the head of the Pancam crew for the Mars Rovers. His latest book, "Postcards from Mars", presents some views of the red planet, as seen by robotic eyes.
6 תגובות
Priority should be given to robotic tasks. Over time, the robotic systems will become more and more sophisticated. Exciting robotic missions can be carried out today (see Mars on the successes and failures in recent years). It is possible on this basis to develop an industry in space or mining minerals in space. Long-term human stay in space is still not a healthy activity.
Kudos to Jim Bell - it is important that the teams exploring space with robotic means also remind us of the importance of the human element in space exploration, in its most direct form - the person who will actually be "there".
The potential of the robots is endless. But even if their capabilities are doubled, even in decades, there will be a difference between a robot on Mars and a human on Mars (or anywhere else). There are things that a robot will not be able to do (such as making decisions and reacting in real time), and most importantly - there is a feeling in humans that a robot will not arouse.
The robotic means are the preparation for the coming of man, not the main goal.
To Jonathan: The plebeians are indeed unwilling to fight. But there are quite a few people who are willing to do a lot in order to win the great honor of advancing humanity in the conquest of space. Today, candidates for cosmonauts wait many years for their turn. If it were possible, many more would have been accepted into the ranks of the candidates.
High risk? Without a doubt. Are there people, who will meet the necessary requirements, who are ready with a clear mind to follow the very difficult and very arduous path of a space pilot, at high personal risk? More than enough (and I know a few of them). They will not be asked for insurance and risk supplements, and they are ready to take risks like the first cosmonauts took, like all those human beings during humanity who left their home for the desire to know what is beyond the horizon.
I don't remember who the following saying belongs to, a space pilot, a scientist, a philosopher or just a space enthusiast, but it sums up the topic very well:
"The relationship between robotic space exploration and manned space exploration is like the relationship between virtual and real sex. The virtual ones are cheaper, easier, safer, more modern. They have only one drawback - they are not real, and this drawback outweighs all the advantages."
Addendum to the above comment:
The weightlessness problem will of course be solved by rotating the rod described above around its center of gravity. The "rod" connecting the two ends will actually be a hollow tube inside which the astronauts will be able to pass from one end to the other end of the spacecraft.
Although the potential of using robots has not yet been exhausted, but as said, manned tasks are also needed.
The robotic missions have to be sent to destinations too far away (the outer planets and their moons) or to places impossible for manned research like Venus and Mercury.
However, the time has come for a serious manned mission to our nearest Mars. All the technology required for this exists today and has actually existed for several years. Even for seemingly difficult problems such as radiation protection, long time and weightlessness - solutions were found:
Radiation protection - by building a small-walled shelter for the staff members and backup computers. The team will enter the shelter as soon as they receive a solar storm alert (from Earth or from an independent automatic observation).
A long time - astronauts stayed in space stations for long months beyond six months and did not go out of their minds. The team that will be sent for the mission will be used to meeting conditions of isolation and solitude.
Weightlessness - To solve this problem, a number of solutions have been proposed, the most logical and promising of which is a spaceship built from a long rod with two weights at the ends that include approximately equally all the systems and equipment such as the crew cabin, the Mars lander, fuel and food tanks, etc.
Everything else is a financial problem. The USA, which is currently at a relative low economically and scientifically, can organize and coordinate an international mission in a short time frame that will get it out of the mud and return it to being the number 1 power like Kennedy did at the time with the Apollo operation.
When I read the article, I immediately thought of the ignorant and bloodthirsty crowd watching the gladiator fights in the Colosseum in ancient Rome. Everyone wants to see how the gladiator is slaughtered but no one wants to try for themselves.
If you build the robots in a smart enough and sophisticated way they can do the job well and there is no need to risk human life, not at this stage. A robot today can send operators on Earth three-dimensional images that allow them to experience the environment just as if they were there, and if you really want, you can send a spacecraft to take soil samples from the planet and bring them back for testing on Earth, or in the International Space Station, robots still have an important role in space exploration And there is no need to rush to replace them with humans, the potential of robots in space exploration is not yet exhausted.