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From: dietz@SLB-DOLL.CSNET (Paul Dietz)
Newsgroups: net.space
Subject: Re: Scuttle the Shuttle?
Message-ID: <8602171539.AA01195@s1-b.arpa>
Date: Mon, 17-Feb-86 07:53:41 EST
Article-I.D.: s1-b.8602171539.AA01195
Posted: Mon Feb 17 07:53:41 1986
Date-Received: Fri, 21-Feb-86 04:08:07 EST
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The ARPA Internet
Lines: 18

Several people have criticized my statements on manned vs. unmanned
space activities, saying that robots can't replace people.  Reading
my messages, you'll see I explicitly talked about *teleoperators*,
which give you many of the advantages of people (creativity, visual
input, reasoning abilities) without actually having to put people in
space.  You still need people, but a skilled person on the
ground costs perhaps $100,000/year; in the space station, $100
million/year.

Also, someone lampooned the idea of self-replicating teleoperated
machines on the moon.  Of course I didn't mean autonomous self
replicating machines (we're nowhere near being able to build those)
but rather teleoperated machines that build (say) 95% of the components
needed for more teleoperators/milling machines/etc. from lunar
materials, with complex but lightweight parts (integrated circuits,
drill bits, etc.) being imported from earth.  Most of the mass in
a machine tool is in structural metal, which shouldn't be impossible
to build by remote control.