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Mars Rover Perseverance Discussion Thread


cubinator

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Just now, cubinator said:

Oh I know what those robots are being designed for...I just hope they evolve empathy before they can commit themselves to such destructive endeavors.

Okay, let me toss this out... yes, robots will have a role in future wars. And as a requirement, they will have to be completely autonomous and have a programming that highlights self-preservation. And of course, this exact level of programming means these robots will be ideal for space exploration.1

But as even Isaac Asimov speculated, there would have to be some sort of fail-safe included within the programming. He referred to it as the Three Laws of Robotics, oddly enough which have been used as a guideline for robotic development since the end of the 1990s. But I do not know if that will ever provide the autonomy needed for robots of war or their space exploration counterparts. It has opened up a whole new level of robotic ethics of which I am aware of and do personal research on. It's fascinatingly scary at times.

This problem of robotic ethics even is being discussed with autonomous cars. Should an autonomous car be programmed to allow the intentional death of a driver in order to reduce the risk of death to other people, such as a group of pedestrians or another oncoming vehicle. At this point, an algorithm will be determining which human is worthy of life, which one is worthy of death. I'm equally concerned with this "moral" use of robotics as I am of robotics on the battlefield.

Imagine in the novel, Starship Troopers, how much shorter the novel would have been if the Earth forces would have relied on artificial intelligence robotics to fight the bugs rather than the use of humans! :D Yeah, it probably would never have been long enough for a "feature film" but would have had a completely different outcome. Just as iron replaced bronze and steel replaced iron, self-aware battlefield robotics will replace flesh, bone, and blood on the battlefields of the future.

19 minutes ago, VoidSquid said:

...the moments I'm glad not be in my 20s or 30s anymore.

Ah, hahahaha! Yeah, who wants to be out partying and have RoboCop show up? Yeah, I understand totally...

1See this link for recommended reading and what I think the future of war looks like - the novel series by Keith Laumer should be required reading for all sci-fi fans.

 

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2 minutes ago, mikegarrison said:

It's implied that we can't just plan on leaving a human there when it has sent back the data we wanted.

Well, I figured that by the time walking robots are ready to go we might be close to actually being able to send humans there (and back). Maybe that's a flawed assumption, but a human with the right equipment could potentially do more science in a day than a robot can do in a month or even a year.

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That photo above - the one from the orbiter showing the landing site is very exciting... I've been in a lot of dry lake beds, and this looks like exactly where they landed.  However, the craters suggest that the water evaporated so very very long ago that I'd be surprised if they find anything but fossils of bacteria - if even that. 

 

But if you were to look for past signs of life/water... I think they chose a great spot 

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10 minutes ago, RealKerbal3x said:

Well, I figured that by the time walking robots are ready to go we might be close to actually being able to send humans there (and back). Maybe that's a flawed assumption, but a human with the right equipment could potentially do more science in a day than a robot can do in a month or even a year.

Boston Dynamics might object - presuming they can figure out a power scheme.  That doglike one might be ideal

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4 minutes ago, adsii1970 said:

I cannot wait to go colonize Mars! :blush: Yes, I'd go right now - I can feel the explorer spirit coming to the surface in me... Even if it were a one-way trip, I am so ready!

RO people: WELL NOW YOU CAN!

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I like the rover, but I hope it does not die like Spirit and people don't get tatoos like with oputturnity (lol I'm bad at spelling), writing down a fake quote on their arms with a photo of curiosity

I hope it survives

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9 minutes ago, Starhelperdude said:

I like the rover, but I hope it does not die like Spirit and people don't get tatoos like with oputturnity (lol I'm bad at spelling), writing down a fake quote on their arms with a photo of curiosity

I hope it survives

Spirit and Opportunity both lasted way longer than their original design goals.  Curiosity is still operating after 3036 sols.  The engineering side of the Mars rover program has been doing amazingly well.

So, barring unforeseen circumstances, Perseverance has got a pretty good shot at this point, I'd think.  The really hard part (entry, descent, and landing) is already done.

It's also worth noting that both Curiosity and Perseverance are nuclear powered (unlike Spirit and Opportunity, which rely on solar panels and are therefore vulnerable to dust storms and cold night temperatures).  Furthermore, now that we've had the experience from the previous rovers under our belt, we've got a better collective idea of the sort of hazards the rover could run into (such as the sand trap that caught Spirit)-- hopefully this will make such problems easier to avoid.

 

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36 minutes ago, Snark said:

Spirit and Opportunity both lasted way longer than their original design goals.  Curiosity is still operating after 3036 sols.  The engineering side of the Mars rover program has been doing amazingly well.

So, barring unforeseen circumstances, Perseverance has got a pretty good shot at this point, I'd think.  The really hard part (entry, descent, and landing) is already done.

It's also worth noting that both Curiosity and Perseverance are nuclear powered (unlike Spirit and Opportunity, which rely on solar panels and are therefore vulnerable to dust storms and cold night temperatures).  Furthermore, now that we've had the experience from the previous rovers under our belt, we've got a better collective idea of the sort of hazards the rover could run into (such as the sand trap that caught Spirit)-- hopefully this will make such problems easier to avoid.

 

You're looking at it backwards. With all of our Mars rover experience, we know what to do to make the rovers last less long. It's exhausting working on the same mission for years. Gotta keep things moving

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2 minutes ago, sevenperforce said:

On a related note, both the JPL Curiosity Rover team and the Astrobotics Peregrine Lander team have asked me to put together a Space Shanty on TikTok for their respective vehicles.

Guess who was just offered free space to deliver actual stuff to the moon??

And that's how you easily get a tour of facilities, etc, next time you're near one of those places.

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