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RE: NASA is back on track to colonize the moon, by destroying some grains of moon material brought back by Apollo 17.
This can help a little but I would focus more on exploring the moon via drones first. Send robots to the moon and have them study the surface and then send some machines that can drill into the moon to see what is hiding inside of the moon as well. Now, I wonder who owns all of or different parts of the surface of the moon, the non-atmosphere and no air space around the moon, the mountains, the valleys, caves, the non-existent oceans, and especially the inside parts of the moon.
It is close enough, I would like to see manned survey backup. This allows repair on damaged drones, and return to service.
Also man can concentrate on the more promising sites. They need to find lava tubes for easy habitations.
It would also help develop the bots to use on Mars, kind of a practice run....
:)>You don't think one robot can repair another robot similar to how robotic arms build cars?
We don't have that level of AI yet, too many variables. Besides men on the ground can clarify the value of specific sites. It will also allow them to do test extractions for breathing air, and fuel (hydrogen); as well as growing food, it will be a learning process at a much safer resupply distance.
We need to be bold on the Moon, to prepare for Mars; where we Can't make any mistakes at all!
But, Robots are a good start both places.
:)>Have you not seen some of the things that Elon Musk has? Do you understand how assembling lines work with the robotic arms and how fast these machines work? Do you understand that the variables can be put included in the programming? Plus, do you really think that they're honest about what kind of top secret tech they have out there? Do you realize that many of the technology we see today is generally twenty years old or older in many cases and in so many ways? I'm trying to say that they have things they're not telling us about.
I have programmed and repaired assembly line robots. I gave modified the software on commercual A.I. production machines. They are impressive, but limited in their ability to handle new things.
I wrote a post abouf the loss of the Martian rover due to a dust storm. She lost power, due to the duration if the storm. When thd storm passed, she no longer knew where the Earth was, and no longer reports in. She went way passed mission, and did a lot more than designed, mission succsss for sure! If there were a manned presence there, she could be contacted locally, reprogrammed, and go back to work. Her data on weather alone, while unplanned, was worth many times the mission cost. A single repair outpost, could keep hundreds of units running....
I posted this, because in my consulting business, I get monthly publications from NASA called tech briefs. There are other trade magazines (COTS, DARPA, and military aviation) that come here too, sometimes more reading than I have time to read.
I love tech, and I believe in it's utility. Sadly, I have had to repair and modify too many systems to believe we are to the autonomous point. They did have 2 A I. Vehicles finish the DARPA race this year in the Baha (first time), one with decent time!
I built a test unit with a self calibrating A.I.; and the FDA had a fit! I had to add a manual calibration override, before they would allow it's use.
I love thd machinery, but the Moon presents a unique opportunity to develop machines for Mars, because if we screw up, in a couple of weeks ( instead of 7 tk 12 months) , we can send supplies. We can also extract fuel for a Mars mission directly from the Moon, with a much smaller gravity well.
Eventually, distributed computing in nodes, will allow broad data collection by tiny robots to a central up link facility. The Moon needs to be a development lab, as well as a colony; as fast as possible.
I will look up Elon Musk, always like new information, thanks!
:)>Weak:
They should make the machines stronger, more flexible. Too many things are too cheap and yet expensive. The good news is that there are different private companies in America in 2020 competing to take people to space. That means competition over a monopoly. I was hearing about that yesterday from an astronaut who was talking to Joe Rogan.
Breaking
I understand that things break. But have you not seen the things that Elon Musk has? Space X is impressive. In a controlled environment, a robot should be able to repair itself or to at least be remote controlled from earth.
Remote Control
So, if it is unable to fix a problem, then as people watch on earth, they can then control the bots, the drones, on the moon, on Mars, in space, etc, like you would control a remote controlled car. But of course, there is the delay of some minute to some hours, however long it takes for the messages to travel from earth and to the moon.
Cutting Corners
So, you had to repair things. But sadly, I believe that people can do better than that. Those things are not good enough. It is possible that, at least in some cases, that they cut corners, take shortcuts, when building robots, machines, etc. Oh, what is COTS?
FDA
Oh, I don't like the FDA and I like that you installed a self-calibrating AI. Manual override can be ok but also dangerous. I would prefer that people don't try too hard to extract things from the molecules, the atoms, or however small they go, in order to collect what they need. I would have that as a backup plan and focus on the bigger things that the moon has to offer.
Lunar Solar Power
I would set up huge solar panels on the moon and do whatever it takes to make sure there was always more than enough power for drilling, for looking for caves, canals, holes, etcon the moon.
I love the competition for space lift ability. It is wise, and will force down costs. It is coming into range for private companies to build lift vehicles.
I did not recognize his name, but I have followed Space X. If I were single, I would likely go there and help them. Remote control is clunky from here to the Moon, and impossibly difficult on Mars.
IF Remote control was possible, we would Not need A.I. software. We need boots on the ground, to develop the resources on the Moon. Robots can data collect, but to develop a surface and harvest resources; we will need people.
Machines by definition wear and break. That does Not mean they are not useful, but they do not Heal themselves. Basic repairs might be possible after creative programming. It is so expensive to build and lift machines there, that reuse after repair, becomes very important.
Solar power is important for a Moon installation, and splitting water and storing the Hydrogen, while breathing the Oxygen with the solar power, will allow you to run fuel cell during the evening! Lava tubes, once sealed, will make a good living space, and subsurface is safer....
The Space X design has been optimized to land on, and colonize Mars. They will need the experience we can get on the Moon, before someone gets killed up there. That said, I would Love to go anyway! If we can pull fuel from the moon, we have a much smaller gravity well to fight, to fuel a Mars Mission.
There is Much to be gained, by using the moon, as a stepping stone to the stars!
:)>With the Mars Rover, they would give the rover missions, tasks. Now, technically, that is not remote control, directly speaking, but close enough. If they can do it on Mars then they can do it on the moon. And keep in mind that the Mars Rover has been on Mars for around 20 years now. So, this is not new technology. It is old. 20 years is old. I remember watching it twenty years ago. I remember watching videos about how they control it. I'm not saying don't put people on the moon. I'm saying one step at a time. I'm saying they should do their best to take advantage of what the moon has to offer. They need to study the moon as much as possible in order to make the best plan possible for where to put the people on the moon.