 |
 |
||
 |
|
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||||||||
 |
The Planetary Society WeblogGuest Blogger: Andre BormanisAugust 7 - 13, 2006
|
|||||||||||||
 |
Andre Bormanis is a television writer and producer living in Los Angeles. His credits include the 2005 CBS dramatic series "Threshold", and the UPN series "Star Trek: Enterprise" and "Star Trek: Voyager." He holds degrees in physics and science policy. |
Are Astronauts Obsolete? Part I
Reader Advisory: I am a blog virgin. I've never written a blog before, and I'm not exactly sure what people expect to see in one. Scrutinizing various blogs on this website and others, personalized commentary on some aspect of what's going in the world at the moment seems to be the common denominator. Alright then, here goes.
In my world at the moment, a beautiful crescent Moon is hanging in the sky. I hardly ever look at the Moon without thinking about the fact that human beings have walked on it. People have been there, on another world, a quarter of a million miles out in space -- it's an astonishing fact. I vividly remember watching Neil Armstrong step off the ladder of his bizarre-looking spaceship and place his boot into the lunar dust. I was ten years old, mesmerized by the images on the television. Even at that age I knew I was incredibly lucky to be alive at the very moment when mankind achieved what a thousand previous generations had considered impossible.
 |
That was thirty-seven years ago of course, and that's also an astonishing fact. Like most people back then, I assumed that by the 21st century, lots of people would be living and working on the Moon, and Mars too. In retrospect, the Moon landings seem like an historical anomaly. The reasons have been widely discussed: landing on the Moon was the final prize in the space race with the Soviets -- we won, game over; sending people into space proved to be a lot more difficult and expensive than we had realized, and our main attempt to make it routine and cheap -- the space shuttle -- didn't quite work out the way it was supposed to.
But even so, space exploration didn't stop. On the seventh anniversary of Armstrong and Aldrin's Moon landing, a spacecraft touched down on Mars. I remember that day too, once again glued to the television as the first images from Viking came back to Earth. Viking was a robot. Human hands didn't hold its cameras. It took pictures and conducted experiments on its own, under orders from people who stayed in their air-conditioned offices in Pasadena.
Other robots followed, visiting all the planets except Pluto (which will finally get its due nine years from now when New Horizons zips by). The discoveries these vehicles have made about the solar system have revolutionized our understanding of the Sun, asteroids, comets, planets and their satellites -- and they've done it for a fraction of the cost of human space missions.
 Sunset at the Viking 1 Landing Site This color image of the Martian surface in the Chryse area was taken by Viking Lander 1, looking southwest, about 15 minutes before sunset on the evening of August 21, 1976. The Sun is at an elevation angle of 3 or 4 degrees above the horizon and about 50 degrees clockwise from the right edge of the frame. This lighting reveals topographic subtleties, for instance, a depression is visible near the center of the picture, just above the lander's leg support structure, which was not evident in previous pictures taken at higher Sun angles. Just beyond the depression are large rocks about 30 centimeters (1 foot) across. The diffuse shadows are due to the sunlight that has been scattered by the dusty Martian atmosphere as a result of the long path length from the setting Sun. Credit: NASA / JPL |
Each robotic mission we (and by "we" I include the former Soviet Union and
the many other nations that have participated in deep space exploration) have
launched has been more sophisticated than the missions that came before it.
Robot explorers have benefited immensely from the microelectronics revolution.
Faster computers, sharper cameras and sensors, electronic miniaturization,
higher bandwidth communication -- all of these and many other new technologies
have increased by orders of magnitude what our space exploring robots can do.
There has been no comparable progress in human space technology these past thirty-some years. Robots have traveled to the edge of the solar system, but today humans can rise no more than a few hundred kilometers above Earth. If this were a race, I think we all know who the winner would be. You can't help but wonder: Is it time for the astronauts to hang up their helmets? I think the answer to that question is no, and if you can bear with me, I'll explain why in my next two blog installments.
Are Astronauts Obsolete? Part II
The Pathfinder mission to Mars in 1997 was a watershed event in the exploration of that world. I joined many other members of The Planetary Society for the celebration we organized at the Pasadena Convention Center to coincide with the landing. I really haven't seen that kind of interest and excitement in a space mission since Apollo. People jumped and cheered when Pathfinder successfully landed in Ares Vallis. It was thrilling, exhilarating. But what really struck me was how much everyone identified with its rover, Sojourner. People projected uniquely human qualities -- determination, courage, spirit, fortitude -- on that modest, six-wheeled vehicle. It became, in the imagination of the public, much more than the sum of its parts. For the first time in a long time, the excitement of space exploration was back, even though there wasn't an astronaut within a hundred million kilometers of Mars.
 Six wheels on soil! This 8-image mosaic was acquired by Mars Pathfinder during the late afternoon (near 5 p.m. Local Solar Time, note the long shadows) on Sol 2 and shows the newly deployed Sojourner rover sitting on the Martian surface. This color image was generated from images acquired through three different colored filters (530, 600, and 750 nm). Credit: NASA / JPL |
The Spirit
and Opportunity rovers are the latest Mars explorers to win the attention
of space enthusiasts around the world. And I think it's a safe bet that they're
more recognizable to the average person on the street than most of the shuttle
astronauts. The reason, I believe, is a major shift in culture fueled by
technology that, ironically, has its roots in the early days of the manned
space program. An entire generation has now grown up on personal computers,
video games, and the Internet. Cyberspace holds more interest for most young
people than outer space. Robots play key roles in every industrial society
and are increasingly part of everyday life -- for a couple of hundred bucks
you can buy one to vacuum your house. Given the pervasiveness of robotics
and the popularity of movie characters like R2D2 and C3PO, it isn't surprising
that people identify so easily with the machines we've launched into space.
The debate over whether to launch humans or merely machines is as old as the space program itself. Many prominent scientists argue that humans have no valid role to fill in the exploration of space. Astronauts require elaborate life support systems, protection against radiation, pressure suits and safety devices to survive the rigors of space travel. For a fraction of the cost, they say, robots can learn what we want to know about Mars and other worlds. And everyone can vicariously participate in their discoveries from the safety of our home planet. Virtual reality is the next best thing to being there.
It's a powerful argument, and I have to admit it holds some attraction for me. Chances are I will never fly in space. Much as I would love to, as important as the dream of personally leaving the Earth was for me in my formative years, it isn't going to happen. Someday if I'm lucky, I may get a quick trip above the stratosphere as a suborbital space tourist, but there's no way I'll ever get to Mars. Of the six billion people living on Earth today, few if any ever will.
A case can be made for turning the reins of exploration over to the robots. But a better case can be made for sending people beyond Earth orbit. Not instead of robots, but in partnership with them. I'll try to convince all the robots out there to lay down the welcome mat for us humans in my final blog...
 Apollo 15 Astronaut James Irwin at the Lunar Rover at the end of EVA-1, July 31, 1971. Credit: NASA |
Are Astronauts Obsolete? Part III
The first part of the argument for sending people to other worlds is practical. Despite the many advances in robotics over the past several decades, humans are still more capable explorers. Much more capable. Steve Squyres, the principal investigator of the Spirit and Opportunity missions, has argued that a human geologist could accomplish more in a single day on Mars than his rovers can do in a month. A trained geologist can bring all of her experience to bear in every situation she encounters. She can quickly examine a rock or sediment layer and assess its scientific value, focusing on the most promising samples. Exploring Mars by remote control is a slow and painstaking process. Even with expected improvements in autonomy and artificial intelligence, it will be long time, perhaps generations, before robots can even come close to mimicking the capabilities of a human scientist with a pick ax and a drill. If we really want to understand Mars, learn its history, and determine once and for all whether life ever existed there, a team of scientist-astronauts on its surface is the way to go.
 20/20 Vision This artist's concept is called 20/20 Vision. Did life ever exist on Mars? If so, the best evidence may be fossils preserved in the rocks. Geologists and biologists will one day explore Mars, piecing together the history of the planet and perhaps its ancient life. Credit: Pat Rawlings for NASA |
Beyond this purely pragmatic argument, there is a harder to define yet even
more compelling case to be made for human explorers. In our long history there
have always been a handful of individuals in every generation, in virtually
every culture, who made the effort to travel where no one had gone before.
The ones who survived and returned shared their experiences with those who
stayed behind, broadening their horizons as well.
Nearly forty years ago, when the crew of Apollo 8 became the first humans to circle the moon, they witnessed the Earth rise above the lunar surface. They immediately grabbed their cameras and started taking pictures. That view of our home planet from deep space is widely credited for catalyzing the environmental movement. Few images have had a more profound impact on human consciousness. It did more than just excite and inform us. It gave us hope.
 Earthrise over the lunar horizon Earth rose over the lunar horizon as Apollo 8 completed the first manned trip behind the far side of the Moon. The mission also returned the first live television coverage of the lunar surface, on December 24, 1968. Credit: NASA |
A robot would never have thought to take that picture. A robot wouldn't have
thought to read from the book of Genesis to a world in turmoil a quarter of a
million miles away. Who knows what the first astronauts on Mars will see and
experience, what will touch and move them, what they will bring back to those
of us who stay behind? People can share their experiences and insights with other
people in ways that robots never will.
For the first time since Apollo, NASA is making credible plans to return astronauts to the Moon and eventually send them to Mars. The President has called for it, and Congress, at the moment, seems to be on board. Our robotic scouts will lead the way, and we'll continue to enjoy and take pride in their missions. Four or five years from now, when the International Space Station is complete, and the space shuttle retired, several billion dollars a year should be available in the NASA budget for human exploration. NASA will have to spend those dollars very carefully over at least two decades to make a human mission to Mars a reality.
There will be political pressure to divert the money to other programs, or to reduce the ever-burgeoning deficit. Discretionary spending of all kinds will likely be targeted and constrained. But should anyone ask me why sending a handful of people to Mars is worth spending billions of tax dollars, I'll remind them of Apollo 8 and Apollo 11. Hope is a hard commodity to come by these days. It's well worth the investment.
[ what is this? ]