We must move ever forward like a drill5/15/2023 ![]() ![]() Quite so-but Perseverance will cover Martian ground far more rapidly, and its successors will do still better. Steve Swanson, who flew twice on the space shuttle and once to the International Space Station, points to the fact that Apollo 17’s astronauts covered 22 miles on the moon in three days, while the Curiosity rover on Mars traveled about 12 miles in more than six years. The scientific rationale for sending astronauts to Mars centers on the expectation that the long experience and human flexibility of scientifically trained astronauts will allow them to search through new locales and to discern special, perhaps unexpected features far more rapidly than any robot can. Although our robots will continue to increase their artificial intelligence, no one knows when, if ever, they can match us humans, though we must beware of a bias in assessing our own proficiency. They cannot match the brain of an experienced geologist-for now. For all of these except the choice of drilling locations, robots rather than humans can perform more safely, more easily, and less expensively. What would change if we replaced a fully automated investigation with one with on-site humans? To take sample return as an example, the tasks involved include reaching Mars, choosing the best locations to sample, drilling into the rocks or soil at those locations, extracting material and sealing it for study, bringing the material to Earth, and examining the samples with the instruments best suited to that task. We may use the Perseverance rover’s success on Mars to analyze the issue of how astronauts on Mars would improve the situation. Future breakthroughs in artificial intelligence could lead to self-guided Martian robots that would follow general instructions while performing the same tasks that human explorers would. and technology increase the robots’ abilities. The advantages that human explorers now hold over robots will continue to diminish as advances in A.I. The first Martian fly-by (1964), the first Martian orbiter (1971), the first Martian landers (1976), and the first Martian rover (1996) testify to our stubbornness and problem-solving abilities in overcoming the obstacles to exploring another planet. Nearly two dozen spacecraft destined for Mars have failed in their efforts, some on the launch pad, some in interplanetary space, and some on the Martian surface. In the last 60 years, half a dozen spacecraft have flown past Mars, and 15 others have orbited the planet seven have landed on Mars, and six rovers have traversed part of the Martian surface. THIS is the character of the kind of people we DO want to develop close relationships with.Slate has relationships with various online retailers.īut note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.Īll prices were up to date at the time of publication.Īdapted from The End of Astronauts: Why Robots Are the Future of Exploration by Donald Goldsmith and Martin Rees, published by the Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. THIS is the kind of character we want to foster within ourselves. ![]() There are plenty of people who do not criticize, point fingers, or judge. So, it’s your choice to continue to engage in the cycle with them, or to move on. Forever and always, until vibrations are raised, this will be the cycle of the relationship. And, as quickly as the tide changes, you can just as easily become the person they target and criticize, point fingers at, and negatively judge. If someone complains a lot to you about other people, guess what? That is part of their current character. This is the key and one of the most fundamental insights about the ‘red flags’ that we often dismiss regarding the people in our lives. “Your judgments about another person say more about your own character than the character of the person you are pointing a finger at. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |