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Why humans are not obsolete
“Unmanned” space supporters would have us believe that humans are obsolete and space should be the exclusive domain of robots, but an incident that occurred a few years ago shows why humans (especially...
View ArticleHumans vs. robots: dispelling the myth in planetary science
Dr. Ian Crawford, Reader in Planetary Science and Astrobiology at Birkbeck College London, has published a paper that seeks to dispel the myth that robots are more efficient than humans for conducting...
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Asteroid mining and automation
Planetary Resources has shown a roadmap for its future missions. Not surprisingly, the near-term missions are much better defined. Details on the final phase (asteroid mining) are hard to come by....
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Ooh, Shiny!
Imagine, a field geologist finds a scrap of foil – part of a candy wrapper, perhaps – that has slipped out of his pocket. He then becomes distracted and spends an entire day examining the foil,...
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OSIRIS-REx Proves Utility of Human-Tended Experiments
The OSIRS-REx mission, developed by the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and Lockheed Martin Space Systems, is scheduled for launch in 2016....
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Human-Tended Experiments for CubeSat Development
Here’s another example showing the utility of human-tended experiments on parabolic flights for technology development. This time, it’s low-cost CubeSat hardware. Cadets at the US Air Force Academy...
View ArticleLessons from Bion M Failures
The failure of multiple experiments on the Russian Bion M biosatellite mission shows the limitations of automation. Due to technical malfunctions, most of the test subjects (39 out of 45 mice, and all...
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On Exploration: Ocean and Space
[Note: Somehow, this article was accidentally posted under June, even though it's really from August. Because several people have already linked to it, we've left a copy at this location, as well as...
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On Exploration: Ocean and Space
Renowned oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle gives this defense of ocean exploration. The space community should also pay attention. Dr. Earle is the former chief scientist at the National Oceanic and...
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UAVs Depend on Manned Escorts
“Unmanned space” guys take note: Unmanned air vehicles are now being escorted by manned fighters. The Aviationist reports: Earlier this year… an IRIAF (Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force) F-4 Phantom...
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