What a plucky pair of robots! It might be luck, or it could just be over-engineered little rovers, but either way, it's quite an achievement! Article. What do you guys think of Mars exploration? Worth the effort?
Worth the effort... I think the only way we're going to make it as a species is to get off the planet, and what better way to start?
Worth the effort, don't know. We haven't even explored our own planet fully, why are we starting somewhere else?
Exploring our own planet completely is a big task. If you start to explore other planets, you might learn something about how to explore your own!
maybe, or you could waste money finding and learning nothing, either way is a risk. This is quite an achievement though, 5 years!
Because it's actually easier EDIT: Heh, according to the article one has to drive everywhere backwards because of a broken wheel and one has a dodgy arm because of a broken wire.
Definitely worth it. Space exploration isn't just about walking around on moons and driving RC cars on other planets. Sure, the science behind those tasks is amazing, and we get to learn a little bit more about the universe in which we live. The real benefit, however, is in the science and technology returns we see here on Earth. Sometimes it doesn't even have anything to do with space itself. Sometimes a basic problem arises that causes scientists to think of new and innovative solutions. Those solutions are then adopted by people on Earth. As Krikkit says, space exploration teaches us a few things about how to explore closer to home. The same applies the other way around, too. The NEEMO project allows scientists to prepare for long-duration survival in an uninhabitable environment before heading to more extreme places. -monkey
Ahh, they landed there on my Birthday. Thats cool. And five years is something else considering that they are on the surface of another planet. And dosnt the surface of mars have some relatively harsh weather conditions? I think they should have dumped about 100-200 of those things on the planet, sprinkle them about like salt and let them work like a collective little ant colony. AI has come along way in the past 5 years, robots are nearly autonomous. Any one see that 'big dog' robot on youtube? Thats a scary piece of robotics, it makes the wheeled robot on mars look like a POS.
Learning more is always good, but a bigger priority is for everyone to do what we already know are better ways of doing things. More houses with water tanks & solar panels, more car pooling, more public transport, geothermal power, etc. Lots of stuff that we already know how to implement, and how they will pay themselves off soon enough. So maybe we don't need another planet so soon! Big deal if we can send a robot with six arms, ai, and a V12 to mars, that can make a cappucino from space dust in 10 seconds.
Wait. I thought Howard Wolowitz got the rover stuck in a ditch, and later turns out it was actually caused by some life form on Mars, instead of his mere reckless driving?
That's all well and good, but think about what you just said. Many of the tools and techniques we have to improve our lives today come directly from technology associated with space travel. As I said, it's not just the fact that it's a robot with six arms that can brew coffee from mars dust. We geeks may think that's cool enough, but as scientists and engineers solve the problems associated with space travel, the solutions often find applications here on Earth. NASA needed to find a way for astronauts to examine bone structure while living on board the ISS, and since they didn't have an X-Ray machine on orbit they came up with a solution that involves a portable ultrasound device. As NASA shared its findings, the Detroit Red Wings applied the technique to hockey players. They now use a portable ultrasound device to check for sprained ankles and broken bones without having to take a player off the bench. The news spread, and now some youth soccer leagues in the Detroit area use portable ultrasound coupled with tele-medicine to send the images to doctors at nearby hospitals. Human beings are hard wired to explore; it's in our nature. As we explore, we encounter problems that cause us to think in new and innovative ways. Improvements to life on Earth are born out of those innovations. -monkey
That's a fairly ambiguous statement, but however I spin it I can't find a way to agree with it, what do you mean? AH
I was *kinda* talking out my rear a bit, but any main stream technology (like a roomba) that can navigate around a house and navigate back to a station for rechargeing and can get it self unstuck, is grounds for a autonomous robot. Big dog is also on the lead for this type of tech. AI is anything that can solve a problem without input from a human. I dont think AI will ever be as smart as we are, but its getting dang good (nothing like Data here, but sci-fi tech is just forms of innovation we havnt figured out yet, for the most part!)
