Exploring more or getting something done? - To send probes or not to send probes...

smurf975 · 2004-06-03 19:55:13

To send probes or not to send probes that is the question.

Imagine you have limited budget and can only choose one of the two arguments to spend your money on:

1. Its time that we start building/using the knowledge that we have gathered so far. So lets spend the budget on building a Mars colony. So far we may have encountered situations slightly different then from what we predicted but we have calculated those risks into our mission plan. So humans on Mars are save from risks according our predictions.

2. Although we know more then we did before we still don't know a lot. Before you start thinking about building a colony. You should know what kind of exact resources are on that planet and at what quantities and locations. An educated guess is not the same as knowing. You just can't send humans into an environment where many things are not known. What if you count on having such and such resource only to know they were unique to the landing site of the rover? So for the time being send more scouts/probes and see what the data is.

Personally I would go for the first argument, as if live were so sure on Earth when then all those insurance policies? To make up for the unknown location of resources give the Mars explorers some highly mobile transportation units.

Ian Flint · 2004-06-04 10:40:30

This question is like my wife asking, "Do you think she's pretty?"

Either way I answer, I'm going to get slapped!

Ian Flint · 2004-06-04 10:47:48

Seriously, your preference to include long distance rovers (just in case things aren't how you expect them) is essentially combining choices one and two. If you have a base with people, they will explore. It won't be robotic probe style exploration, but it will still be exploration. So the choices are simply: 1. Explore with robots and don't send humans, or 2. Send humans and explore more with them while building a base.

Dook · 2004-06-04 11:33:20

If I had to pick between the two I think we know enough about mars to go now. The only resource we really need for Mars Direct to work is carbon dioxide and we know it's there.

But since I don't really have to pick between the two I would say that we should send the Mars Sample Return mission as soon as possible. This would verify that converting hydrogen to methane and oxygen on the surface of mars would work. If it does, then begin work on Mars Direct.

smurf975 · 2004-06-04 12:07:28

Seriously, your preference to include long distance rovers (just in case things aren't how you expect them) is essentially combining choices one and two. If you have a base with people, they will explore. It won't be robotic probe style exploration, but it will still be exploration. So the choices are simply: 1. Explore with robots and don't send humans, or 2. Send humans and explore more with them while building a base.

Yeah I agree with you that including those rovers would be kinda of cheating. However I was thinking for rovers like those moon buggies. So human operated.

Ian Flint · 2004-06-04 12:56:48

However I was thinking for rovers like those moon buggies. So human operated.

Me too. Exploration is exploration, no matter if a robot rover does it or a human-driven rover does it.

smurf975 · 2004-06-04 16:37:46

Think about how we design rovers: we design them to do things that we would like to do in person. It seems to me that there is an ingrained human need to do things 'hands-on'. I mean, we even bitch about the things that we can't do because it's some limited-use rover on Mars and not a real person. There is a certain intuition to exploring, one which does not get fully utilised when acting through intermediaries.

Well controlling rovers from Earth will never give you the hands-on feeling, how advanced the techology may be ( except for maybe http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/2003/4 … anglemant) due to the 10 minute communications lag.

MarsDog · 2004-06-07 22:48:49

Encouraging that the robots are studying the geology. The next goal for the robots should be to determine locations of convenient Human Habitation sites; Easy water, sunlight and sheltered from the wind.

Euler · 2004-06-07 23:19:04

I would not worry too much about the wind. The air on Mars is too thin for it to have much force.

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#1 2004-06-03 19:55:13

Re: Exploring more or getting something done? - To send probes or not to send probes...

#2 2004-06-04 10:40:30

Re: Exploring more or getting something done? - To send probes or not to send probes...

#3 2004-06-04 10:47:48

Re: Exploring more or getting something done? - To send probes or not to send probes...

#4 2004-06-04 11:33:20

Re: Exploring more or getting something done? - To send probes or not to send probes...

#5 2004-06-04 12:07:28

Re: Exploring more or getting something done? - To send probes or not to send probes...

#6 2004-06-04 12:56:48

Re: Exploring more or getting something done? - To send probes or not to send probes...

#7 2004-06-04 16:37:46

Re: Exploring more or getting something done? - To send probes or not to send probes...

#8 2004-06-07 22:48:49

Re: Exploring more or getting something done? - To send probes or not to send probes...

#9 2004-06-07 23:19:04

Re: Exploring more or getting something done? - To send probes or not to send probes...

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