Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!purdue!haven!uvaarpa!murdoch!astsun9.astro.Virginia.EDU!gl8f
From: gl8f@astsun9.astro.Virginia.EDU (Greg Lindahl)
Newsgroups: comp.robotics
Subject: Re: Divert NASA budget to robotics
Message-ID: <1990Jul10.174250.12000@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU>
Date: 10 Jul 90 17:42:50 GMT
References: <10518@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu> <9855@pt.cs.cmu.edu>
Sender: news@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU
Distribution: comp
Organization: Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia
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In article <9855@pt.cs.cmu.edu> gerry@cive.ri.cmu.edu (Gerry Roston) writes:
>Finally a post I can agree with 100%!!!
>
>Who needs man in space?  The cost is astronomical (pun intended)
>and the return minimal.  Man's greatest advantage over most robots
>is his highly advanced manipulative skills coupled with a wizbang
>computer.

Another advantage is that men have brains. They make great
tele-operators as long as they are close enough to the robot.
While robotics research is moving forward, it still is quite a few
years away from making a robot that can briskly stroll across the
Martian landscape, noticing interesting things it should sample.

--
"Perhaps I'm commenting a bit cynically, but I think I'm qualified to."
                                              - Dan Bernstein