www.discovermagazine.com
And I just used Mars as an example. What/where did you have in mind?20 Ways the World Could End
Are we in danger of being erased from the universe? Here we look at the factors that could doom humanity: natural disasters, human-triggered cataclysms, willful self-destruction, and greater forces directed against us.
I said that we will need to develop a way to extend humanity beyond earth. I didn't say that we need to colonize Mars. Visiting Mars might just be an early step.
If you're talking about interstellar travel, it won't be by the human species as we know it. If we aim lower and just try to preserve life in the universe, I think panspermia is our best bet but that's still in the far future. I guess.20 Ways the World Could End
Are we in danger of being erased from the universe? Here we look at the factors that could doom humanity: natural disasters, human-triggered cataclysms, willful self-destruction, and greater forces directed against us.
I said that we will need to develop a way to extend humanity beyond earth. I didn't say that we need to colonize Mars. Visiting Mars might just be an early step.
What if the science they're doing is studying those very same harsh conditions? Robots can't do everything. They an only do what their onboard instruments are capable of.
I'm sure they will. But when the interesting thing is beyond the capability of the robot's instruments, it's very expensive to send up a new robot. Humans can do things on the spot. They can make decisions, observations, even bring specific samples back to a better-equipped lab to use instruments that it is not practical to put on a robot.
They can say "Hey, what's that over there? Let's go take a look." Robots can't deviate from the pre-programmed mission plan.
They are controlled by the mission control remotely. They aren't autonomous.
Messages take on average about 12 minutes to pass between Earth and Mars, depending on their relative orbital positions. Mission control sends the rover a set of instructions, which takes time to get there. Then it takes an equal amount of time for telemetry to get back. That's a 24 minute round trip, on average, between sending it an instruction and seeing the result. They're not being remote controlled.
A manned mission to Mars is decades away at best, more likely close to a century. A manned mission to Mars that includes building a colony is sheer fantasy.
Correct. Mission controllers send a set of navigation instructions Once the program is set in motion, there is no way to quickly stop, as any instruction to do so cannot be sent for several minutes. The maximum radio signal travel time to Mars is about 22 minutes, so it could be up to 44 minutes before a "stop" signal would be received if there was a problem. Real time remote control is not possible, but it does have some limited autonomous control.
Name us an earth like planet, one that has a breathable atmosphere, correct mix of water to land, enough plant life to develop soil, a magnetosphere that adequately shields against harmful radiation, a lack of pathogens that would be 100% fatal and a lack of dangerous or intelligent animal life. Once you do that we can begin to talkabout colonies, but until then our best bet is to protect our own pale blue dot, it's the only one we have.20 Ways the World Could End
Are we in danger of being erased from the universe? Here we look at the factors that could doom humanity: natural disasters, human-triggered cataclysms, willful self-destruction, and greater forces directed against us.
I said that we will need to develop a way to extend humanity beyond earth. I didn't say that we need to colonize Mars. Visiting Mars might just be an early step.
Why not? It is slow yes, but it is not autonomous, and mission controllers have in fact decided to deviate from plans to go and investigate features that looked interesting.
When/if they can actually get to where they want to go. The Mission Control has to be very careful where they go and the rovers are limited as to what terrain they can travel on (theoretical 45°, but the wheels start spinning over 30°). IIRC it was somewhere between Bridger Basin and Naukluft Plateau that they almost put Curiosity down a slope into a place it might not have been able to get out of.
That reads like you are thinking the robots wouldnt be in contact with humans! You'd want them to have some autonomy but experiments etc. will be under the control of humans. A robot on Mars surface doing experiments at the behest of humans will be able to do many, many more things than a human there could. Even ignoring the risk to humans robots are better candidates for exploring anywhere that the environment is outside the very, very narrow conditions suitable to humans.
Seems pretty remote to me.
Maybe Musk will display his confidence to the world.
It may end up being the biggest DOGE cost-cut.
There’s an apocryphal story that Roman engineers (German, in some versions) were made to stand under the bridges they designed as the first load was driven across. Sounds good to me.
Wasn't it scheduled for a first landing on Mars a few years ago?
So? It's not like we're in any rush.
There was no pressing need to scale Mt Everest. We'll do it just to prove that we can.
"Many years ago the great British explorer George Mallory, who was to die on Mount Everest, was asked why did he want to climb it. He said, "Because it is there."
And his speech writer was truthful. The issue I have is when people come up with a science fiction scenario as a reason to go to Mars. A goal of colonising Mars to create a redoubt for humanity if earth becomes uninhabitable by humans is very much still science fiction, getting humans to Mars won’t make it any less so.
I'm all in favor of private enthusiasts self-funding their space travel hobby.
Or he straight out shoots Musk ? Sends him to Ecuador prison ? They have a box fight and Trump wins ? So many options ..
Yeah, and/or withdrawn subsidies or Elon Musk pulls the “you can’t fire me I quit” move.
