Finding ET May Require Giant Robotic Leap
Penn State Live (04/18/12) Andrea Elyse Messer
Autonomous, self-replicating robots, known as exobots, are the best way to explore the universe, find and identify extraterrestrial life, and clean up space debris, says Pennsylvania State University professor John D. Mathews. "The basic premise is that human space exploration must be highly efficient, cost effective, and autonomous, as placing humans beyond low Earth orbit is fraught with political, economic, and technical difficulties," Mathews says. Developing and deploying self-replicating robots and advanced communications systems is the only way humans can effectively explore the asteroid belt and beyond, he maintains. The initial robots could be manufactured on the moon, taking advantage of the resources and its low gravity, both of which would reduce costs. The robots must be able to identify their exact location and the location of the other exobots, which would enable them to communicate using an infrared laser beam carrying data. Initially, the exobots would clear existing debris and monitor the more than 1,200 near-Earth asteroids that could be dangerous. In the future, he says a network of exobots could spread throughout the solar system and into the galaxy, using the resources they find there to continue their mission.
Penn State Live (04/18/12) Andrea Elyse Messer
Autonomous, self-replicating robots, known as exobots, are the best way to explore the universe, find and identify extraterrestrial life, and clean up space debris, says Pennsylvania State University professor John D. Mathews. "The basic premise is that human space exploration must be highly efficient, cost effective, and autonomous, as placing humans beyond low Earth orbit is fraught with political, economic, and technical difficulties," Mathews says. Developing and deploying self-replicating robots and advanced communications systems is the only way humans can effectively explore the asteroid belt and beyond, he maintains. The initial robots could be manufactured on the moon, taking advantage of the resources and its low gravity, both of which would reduce costs. The robots must be able to identify their exact location and the location of the other exobots, which would enable them to communicate using an infrared laser beam carrying data. Initially, the exobots would clear existing debris and monitor the more than 1,200 near-Earth asteroids that could be dangerous. In the future, he says a network of exobots could spread throughout the solar system and into the galaxy, using the resources they find there to continue their mission.
No comments:
Post a Comment