If we find a structure on Mars

[Ryujin]

That's certainly true.

Well, not *infinitely*. The human will not actually be any more flexible than the laboratory you send with him or her. And that lab won't be able to restock consumables, or get new equipment in short order. Part of human flexibility lies in our social infrastructure, which doesn't exist on Mars.

A probe that is faced with a situation for which it was not designed will likely fail. A human faced with such a problem has a fairly good chance of coming up with alternative solutions. That's the sort of thing I'm talking about.

 

[Umbran]

A probe that is faced with a situation for which it was not designed will likely fail. A human faced with such a problem has a fairly good chance of coming up with alternative solutions. That's the sort of thing I'm talking about.

I know. But note how most times when you have to come up with an alternative solution, you need some *thing* to enact that solution. It comes from being tool-users. We need tools.

The point is to drive home how "just send humans" is a bit glib. MacGuyver is fictional. Humans will not be all that capable or flexible unless we send a really huge amount of *stuff* with them. It may be cheaper to have a rover fail, and redesign and send the next rover, rather than send humans to cover every contingency.

Noting that humans are flexible is really noting that humans are generalists. That means you don't send humans for *specific* tasks, you send them when what you want to do is really broad. "Explore this one building," may not be general enough to justify sending people.

 

[Ryujin]

I know. But note how most times when you have to come up with an alternative solution, you need some *thing* to enact that solution. It comes from being tool-users. We need tools.

The point is to drive home how "just send humans" is a bit glib. MacGuyver is fictional. Humans will not be all that capable or flexible unless we send a really huge amount of *stuff* with them. It may be cheaper to have a rover fail, and redesign and send the next rover, rather than send humans to cover every contingency.

Noting that humans are flexible is really noting that humans are generalists. That means you don't send humans for *specific* tasks, you send them when what you want to do is really broad. "Explore this one building," may not be general enough to justify sending people.

... or when you are unsure of what the specific task at hand will be; ie. the unknown. I'm quite familiar with the idea of having the right tools. Frequently problem solving involves having the right tool and using it for a purpose for which it was never designed

 

[Umbran]

... or when you are unsure of what the specific task at hand will be; ie. the unknown.

Yes, but this isn't exactly time-sensitive, now is it? As already mentioned - it can be (no, really, would certainly be) cheaper to send several waves of robotic probes than to send one human.

 

[Ryujin]

Yes, but this isn't exactly time-sensitive, now is it? As already mentioned - it can be (no, really, would certainly be) cheaper to send several waves of robotic probes than to send one human.

Something that I also alluded to, in an earlier post (ie. send more probes first)

 

[Janx]

Yes, but this isn't exactly time-sensitive, now is it? As already mentioned - it can be (no, really, would certainly be) cheaper to send several waves of robotic probes than to send one human.

I would bet, in fact, that is faster. Not in sense of travel time, but over all prep time. we could fling a probe at mars every couple of years (launch windows, travel time, etc). Meanwhile, it could be a decade or two before we have ships, etc in place to send humans to go there and come back.

So that's at least 3-4 probe missions before we can actually do a human mission. (give or take some rough guesstimates).

 

[Janx]

A probe that is faced with a situation for which it was not designed will likely fail. A human faced with such a problem has a fairly good chance of coming up with alternative solutions. That's the sort of thing I'm talking about.

I dunno, Matt Damon's only got a 50/50 track record of getting home when stranded on alien planets.

 

[Ryujin]

I dunno, Matt Damon's only got a 50/50 track record of getting home when stranded on alien planets.

Well, after all, he is Matt Damon. Send Affleck up there instead. PLEASE send Affleck.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Well, after all, he is Matt Damon. Send Affleck up there instead. PLEASE send Affleck.

Mmmm...no.

"Justin Bieber of Mars" sounds like a better idea to me.

 

[Ryujin]

Mmmm...no.

"Justin Bieber of Mars" sounds like a better idea to me.

I'd rather send him out on the next extra-solar probe, thank you very much.