Yesterday, I saw a documentary from Scientific American about some of the new advancements in robotics. I learned about Robonaut, which is being developed at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Robonaut has these sensors all over its hands so that it can grip things, and basically act just like a human. Unlike other robotic spacecraft, such as the Mars Exploration Rovers, which are meant to explore, Robonaut is intended to perform specific tasks, particularly to do prep work. For example, on the International Space Station, Robonaut could set up all the equipment for an EVA, the astronauts can come out and work, and then Robonaut will clean up after the EVA. Or, if we went to Mars, we could send Robonauts ahead of time to set up a habitable place for the astronauts.
I definitely think that Robonauts could be useful to us in this manner because it provides a decent balance between robotic spaceflight and human spaceflight. Robonaut can enhance our experience in space because it can perform some of the mundane tasks that take up a lot of time while the astronauts perform more important work. Plus, maybe we can establish a more emotional connection with Robonaut because it so greatly resembles another human being and it can respond to our speech and gestures. So, this reiterates the conclusions drawn from our class presentations: as we look towards future space travel, I think it is important that we continue to pursue human spaceflight, while working cooperatively with robots.
I really liked what one of the developers of Robonaut said about humans and robots working together in space: it's like going to the beach. We can send the robot to the beach to investigate the sand and pick up seashells to bring back for us. However, we will still want to go to the beach because it's nice there and it's fun. So, we have this nice compromise between humans and robots. I thought this was a really great analogy, but one thing I can comment on is that going to the beach is different from going into space. The beach, at least for us living on the seacoast, is really close by and of course it's fun to go there and relax on a hot summer's day. Yet, traveling into space is a lot father away and is a lot more risky, particularly because radiation in space is worse than a simple sunburn on Earth. Then again, if we properly prepare ourselves for the dangers in order to minimize our risk, I still believe we should pursue human spaceflight because that is what we love to do.
