Space: Man or Machine?

Essay by ironcoop125College, UndergraduateA, November 2003

download word file, 3 pages 1.7

Space: Man or Machine?

For the first time in history, we have reached an area outside Earth. "In the past 10 years, with an aging space shuttle, a costly space station and missions mired in lower Earth orbit, the human program has languished, while the unmanned program has leapfrogged ahead with a string of spectacular feats of engineering and technological skill." (Washington Post) Over the years, NASA has developed amazing advances to help continue our research in space. Recently, the lives of seven men and women were lost in the Challenger tragedy. A controversy that has arisen from this disaster and these new technologies is that of man versus robot. Which one is better in advancing our knowledge of the universe? The ideal situation is to have man and machine work together to provide the best results.

Man and machine both need to be in space. There will always be a need for man in outer space.

There are certain things that man can do in space that a machine cannot. Humans have the ability to problem solve and posses decision making skills. Nothing can come close to a human's five senses. Machines will never have all five. However, machines do some things better than humans. Robots are built with the latest technology. Man has never set foot on mars. With these robots we can take advantage of using them where humans cannot be like mars. "We send these robots into space where astronauts can't yet go.....But they are still quite limited in how they function and need our guidance." (space.com) Robots are also better because they face no giant risk. Humans do however face the dangers of getting hurt or possibly even dying. Yes, millions of dollars will be lost if something terrible were to happen to a robot...