With remote cameras, we can tell the robot to look more closely at anything the technicians find interesting. With orbital cameras, we can get a wide-range view of any place that it might prove worthwhile to send the robot. There’s a lag in reaction time with earth-based controls, but there’s no indication that there’s anything on Mars which requires a quick-reaction time; we hardly need motion sensors.
If we ever DO send a manned mission to Mars, they won’t be able to go exploring very far from their landing site, so if there’s anything we don’t know about ahead of time, we’d have to be AWFUL lucky if we chanced to land near it. A robot can go places a human explorer can’t. A robot won’t go stir-crazy on an 18-month trip out. A robot can stay out there a lot longer. If a robot suffers a mechanical failure, the stakes are low; we can just send another robot. And of course we don’t have to worry about bringing a robot back safely.
With remote cameras, we can tell the robot to look more closely at anything the technicians find interesting. With orbital cameras, we can get a wide-range view of any place that it might prove worthwhile to send the robot. There’s a lag in reaction time with earth-based controls, but there’s no indication that there’s anything on Mars which requires a quick-reaction time; we hardly need motion sensors.
If we ever DO send a manned mission to Mars, they won’t be able to go exploring very far from their landing site, so if there’s anything we don’t know about ahead of time, we’d have to be AWFUL lucky if we chanced to land near it. A robot can go places a human explorer can’t. A robot won’t go stir-crazy on an 18-month trip out. A robot can stay out there a lot longer. If a robot suffers a mechanical failure, the stakes are low; we can just send another robot. And of course we don’t have to worry about bringing a robot back safely.