I guess it doesn't necessarily need to be humanoid. Or feet. We can develop these here and work out the kinks before Mars. Something to move around quicker than a caterpillar and can actually dig into the ground beyond a few inches, climb - do hills, build structures for humans before arrival.
VR helps in real time looking around. We use this type of tech in flying drones to get a more immersive control. Real time video. Real time actions instead of having to plan everything out and wait a month for 10 ft of movement. The current rovers we have were concieved in the 70s and they tend to reinvent the wheel with every iterarion. Expensive? More features will cost some money up front, but you don't need to build custom suits which are prone to ripping and tearig with a human inside and losing s crew member. So there is cost and risk savings there.
The space station can be shielded from radiation. They will have less radiation than orbiting earth. Ion engines for logistics trains will cut times for resources to ship to the Mars stations. The logistics trains don't need to interact with the atmospheres or lanching from ground. They can be recharged and refueld in space.
We don't need to be limited to slingshots. Only having to send up to low Mars / Earth orbit for samples will reduce mission costs.
What is the benifet to humans here I suppose goes with the cost line. AI that isn't used for genocide? More efficent costs of energy usage here at home? Standardized energy logistics to extend the life of other missions instesd of abandoning them? The ability to remotely upgrade and repair satelites. The ability to develop ion engines with reliable solar power outside the range of the sun for scalability. Improve the efficency and scalability of battery tech here on earth and eventually mining and tansporting the resources in space. By processing resources in space we don't need to ruin our planet in getting them.
Eventually taking the next step to become a Type 1 civilization and ending scarcity. which I think is a far more noble goal and investment than blowing each other up.
I guess it doesn't necessarily need to be humanoid. Or feet. We can develop these here and work out the kinks before Mars. Something to move around quicker than a caterpillar and can actually dig into the ground beyond a few inches, climb - do hills, build structures for humans before arrival.
VR helps in real time looking around. We use this type of tech in flying drones to get a more immersive control. Real time video. Real time actions instead of having to plan everything out and wait a month for 10 ft of movement. The current rovers we have were concieved in the 70s and they tend to reinvent the wheel with every iterarion. Expensive? More features will cost some money up front, but you don't need to build custom suits which are prone to ripping and tearig with a human inside and losing s crew member. So there is cost and risk savings there.
The space station can be shielded from radiation. They will have less radiation than orbiting earth. Ion engines for logistics trains will cut times for resources to ship to the Mars stations. The logistics trains don't need to interact with the atmospheres or lanching from ground. They can be recharged and refueld in space.
We don't need to be limited to slingshots. Only having to send up to low Mars / Earth orbit for samples will reduce mission costs.
What is the benifet to humans here I suppose goes with the cost line. AI that isn't used for genocide? More efficent costs of energy usage here at home? Standardized energy logistics to extend the life of other missions instesd of abandoning them? The ability to remotely upgrade and repair satelites. The ability to develop ion engines with reliable solar power outside the range of the sun for scalability. Improve the efficency and scalability of battery tech here on earth and eventually mining and tansporting the resources in space. By processing resources in space we don't need to ruin our planet in getting them.
Eventually taking the next step to become a Type 1 civilization and ending scarcity.
which I think is a far more noble goal and investment than blowing each other up.