The Next Leap In Space Exploration

An anonymous reader writes "The crew of the space shuttle Endeavor recently returned to Earth as ambassadors, harbingers of a new era of space exploration. Scientists at NASA are saying that the recent assembly of the Dextre bot is the first step in a long-term space-based man/machine partnership. '"The work we're doing now -- the robotics we're doing -- is what we're going to need to do to build any work station or habitat structure on the moon or Mars," said Allard Beutel, a spokesman for NASA. "Yes, this is just the beginning." Further joint human-robot projects will "be a symbiotic relationship. It's part of a long-term effort for us to branch out into the solar system. We're going to need this type of hand-in-robotic-hand [effort] to make this happen. We're in the infancy of space exploration. We have to start somewhere and this is as good a place as any."'"

Yup!

Wouldn't it be cool to launch your robotic servants to Mars long before humans went, and remotely control them (or not) to build the infrastructure for us before we arrive?

Re:

While the summary tends to allude to such future possibilities, this robot is a long ways away. It is a "human-robot project." Meaning that a human is required to perform the tasks, and that they are not automated. The Canadian Space Agency provides inform

Lightspeed Lag = No (direct) Remote Control

Remote Controlling machines on the Moon would be tough with the 1 second lag. I ran across an article about Japanese researchers experimenting with the simulated lag to an orbiting satellite, but I can't find it right this second. Latencies to Mars are g

Re:Yup!

Launch windows for Hohmann transfer orbits occur at intervals of 780 days, and the one-way trip takes about 220 days. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_exploration#Launch_windows [wikipedia.org]

Evangelion?

I wonder just how 'closely' together they intend to have us working? *shudder*

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles?

As closely as possible?

I've heard this before...

Yes! With our new robotic workers, which we call "Cylons," we will usher in a new era of peaceful space exploration and colonization.

Overstated a Bit?

"Long-term space-based man/machine partnership"? Come on, they installed an assembly robot. Sure, it's a very nice one and pretty complex, but it's not like they fired up freakin R. Daneel Olivaw.

Re:Overstated a Bit?

I'm with you on that one. A bit too anthropomorphic for my tastes, and I like hobby robotics. We are a long way from having to hold hands with a robot, they are little more than very expensive tools. Robots like the Aibo are little more than very expensive pets. Then again, some people think poison ivy looks pretty. There is no accounting for tastes. To my way of thinking, the robots we have sent to Mars already is an amazing thing so putting on in orbit is hardly a major leap forward in robotics technology. The whole hand holding things is rather sophomoric really.

Not even close

The crew of the space shuttle Endeavor recently returned to Earth as ambassadors

Er, no. Sorry.

They assembled and deployed the Ikea version of a semi-autonomous robot. Not even Darl could stretch that into returning as "ambassadors".

The "next leap in space exploration" will happen when we start sending out one-way manned missions. Until then, we've done nothing more than piddle around in the local sandbox and thrown some rocks at pigeons.

Lets just hope...

....that we don't build any robots that can read lips.

Standing on the shoulders of giants

"The crew of the space shuttle Endeavor recently returned to Earth as ambassadors, harbingers of a new era of space exploration. Scientists at NASA are saying that the recent assembly of the Dextre bot is the first step in a long-term space-based man/machine partnership. '"The work we're doing now -- the robotics we're doing -- is what we're going to need to do to build any work station or habitat structure on the moon or Mars," said Allard Beutel, a spokesman for NASA. "Yes, this is just the beginning." Further joint human-robot projects will "be a symbiotic relationship. It's part of a long-term effort for us to branch out into the solar system. We're going to need this type of hand-in-robotic-hand [effort] to make this happen. We're in the infancy of space exploration. We have to start somewhere and this is as good a place as any."'""

Am I paranoid or you too feel some dismissal of previous work.

Re:Standing on the shoulders of giants

I do wonder what their 'final aim' really is. Colonisation of mars? Or is all of this just prep work so we're ready when (if) we eventually make a breakthrough to interstellar travel?

I think it's more of a "defensive stance". They are keeping the space travel technology on a reasonable level to be able to react quickly if another country suddenly reveals a huge breakthrough.

If China suddenly starts to prepare a Mars colonization mission the USA will still have some people and enough infrastructure to keep the option of running for it.

If nobody makes a move, they can wait until a less expensive investigation route produces a result that makes missions cheap enough.

"symbiotic relationship"?

Symbiotic relationship? Man/machine partnership? Ambassadors? Hand-in-robotic-hand? WTF?

It's a fancy toaster, guys, get over yourselves. It's like having a symbiotic relationship with a swiss army knife.

I'd expect this kind of mystical crap from people who don't understand technology and view it all through Clarke's 3rd Law filters ("indistinguishable from magic"), just as any other primitives do when imbuing things they don't understand with mystical spirits. So is Dextre the god of space robotics now? I weep for the NASA that used to be.

Re:We're in the infancy of space exploration Not!

Come on, we been in space since the sixties, and exploring it even before then. Calling this the "infancy of space exploration" is simply inaccurate.

We were a seafaring people for about 6000 years before we discovered some of the islands of the world. Industrialization is in its infancy, we are currently in the pre-history phase of space travel.

Re:

Industrialization is in its infancy only if one makes a straight, one-to-one comparison between time elapsed since the first planted crop with time elasped since the first operational factory. I think that metric is flawed, as it assumes that a year in the

Re:

Project Bring On the Robotic Girls?

Re:Space 1999

No we wouldn't. The problems are deep rooted in various areas aside from inevitable apparent bureaucracy in NASA.

- NASA is VASTLY underfunded, with it's funding being cut on key projects year by year
- Most of the American public don't give a crap about the pre-history of space, such as throwing up robots and plants and 'seeing what happens'. It's hard to gain funding if noone cares.
- The current presidency has no charisma or enthusiasm to push space travel, it is simply not in his interests.
- Space travel is expensive and overall, has very little capitalist pleasing return. When it comes to space, what money you throw up there certainly does not come down. Scientific merit is in hoardes, but it's hard to argue with wall street that it has any merit.
- Some space technology does not follow 'Moores Law' so sometimes progress slows considerably. In some fields such as propulsion we really are waiting for a breakthrough that is not just 'proven on paper'.
- Putting humans in space holds very little merit to many scientists. Even NASA don't want people getting sent up for no good reason.

There's 100 more reasons why we're not living some SciFi dream. I want my space habitat as much as any geek, but I know why I don't have it...

Re:Space 1999

Manned space travel would encourage the next 'big leap'. The one advantage of robotic missions over manned ones that really makes the difference right now is simply mass. The next 'big leap' IMHO is getting off of chemical propulsion, and the weight and mission time requirements for a manned Mars mission rather requires bigger thinking than just using more chemicals. It should hopefully see serious consideration for ion drives powered by something bigger than a battery, something like a nuclear sub reactor. Putting that kind of propulsion system in orbit could allow manned exploration of not only Mars but much more of the solar system as well.

Re:Maybe I am in a bad mood today but..

... I feel like it happens quite late, quite slowly, costs too much and still is underfunded.

So what you're saying is you'd like early, quick, cheap, and well funded bad moods?
 

Re:Maybe I am in a bad mood today but..

". I feel like it happens quite late,"
Is there some sort of galactic timetable only you are aware of? I'm not sure how it is 'late'.

" quite slowly,"
Compared tt other Man/Robotic space missions nobody else is aware of?"

" costs too much"
Compared to...?

"and still is underfunded."
Remember: Fast friendly and free.. no that's not the one...
Fast, inexpensive, High Quality, pick two. That's the one!

Yes, I would love them to get a lot more money, and be able to do more research in any given time frame.
Human/Robot missions is the next logical(to me) step. I would love to see the Robots/Human in space argument end. It's stupid and pointless.

Re:

What fills us with the need to go f*#k up another planet?

Why do you care? They are just big rocks.

We just need to learn to travel faster than our wake of destruction.

Re:Maybe I am in a bad mood today but..

What fills us with the need to go f*#k up another planet?

Since man is a 100% natural product of the earth, so is anything man does. In other words, IF this planet is f*#ked up by our doing, and we are natural product of the earth itself, the earth has f*#ked itself up, naturally.

Besides, even if we are responsible for this planet, I think we are doing a much better job with Earth than mother nature has done with any other planet in the system.

Re:Maybe I am in a bad mood today but..

We're planet fuckers. It's what we do.

Re:It's just a machine

You seem to forget how steam engines were, 'just a machine' but they changed the world.