Yes, we are celebrating the 400th anniversary of the science of modern astronomy and the telescope, but we are also celebrating our bold steps across the threshold of the space sciences. We have stopped crawling and are now taking our first real steps. A time to truly rejoice.As spectacular as our accomplishments have been they are furtive when compared to where we shall be going. Like youngsters taking their first steps, we need to be mindful of that parental warning: "Don't rush it, but keep going."
What's Ahead? In the "mid-distant" future, manned space exploration will be limited to this solar system. Now, that is not a bad thing. Not only are we going to find important answers to how life develops and does not develop on planets, but we are also going to learn about the entire process of planet and solar system formation. Yes, man will land on Mars, and probably on one or more of the moons of Saturn and Jupiter. We will also explore the asteroid belt and actually develop mining operations on some of them. None of these activities are overnight events. We are talking trilllions of dollars and millions of hours for the design and development of efficient and safe space exploration systems. All of this is incredibly healthy for we Earthlings both financially and intellectually.
Going Deep Into Space: Well, what about deep space? Is the Kepler Mission a waste of time and money? The answer should be obvious, it certainly is not. Our exploration of deep space is going to not just blossom it is going to explode when we finally find life bearing exoplanetary systems. There will be that dreamed of and prized "first contact." It will be entirely and uniquely robotic, and will remain that way for a long, long time. Don't despair, the kind of contact I am talking about will represent almost unimaginable breakthroughs in robot design. It is time to use the science-fiction concept of cyborgs to understand this process.
A New Improved HAL: With apologies to that legion of science fiction writers, I predict we will completely discard those ideas of a "pasted" together man and machine cyborg. In reality we will develop totally safe and sane "Hal-like" 
robots that are directly, intimately linked to a specially selected and trained astronaut team. The team are astronauts because they are in space, but not deep space. They reside in a satellite complex located in, for example, the L1 or L2 orbital points around the Sun. These astronauts are the command, control and communication unit for the robot team in deep space. This is necessary to escape the communication and control barrier of the Earths atmosphere. It also allows the full usage of an expanded Deep Space Network (the key space communications network).
robots that are directly, intimately linked to a specially selected and trained astronaut team. The team are astronauts because they are in space, but not deep space. They reside in a satellite complex located in, for example, the L1 or L2 orbital points around the Sun. These astronauts are the command, control and communication unit for the robot team in deep space. This is necessary to escape the communication and control barrier of the Earths atmosphere. It also allows the full usage of an expanded Deep Space Network (the key space communications network).How that program will work is the topic for another My Celestia article. The image on the right is simply an example of a real robot team that was developed by Toyota as a demonstration. Are they playing music? Yes they are. Are they playing in a coordinated manner? Yes they are. So, in this respect it is a very limited example of the kind of robotics we will develop for our deep space visits. We can venture this. The robot team will operate on the most advanced neural network articificial intelligence that, like HAL, is very human and beyond in its capabilities and response to the ET environment they are visiting.
To listen to what the robot team in the image above are playing, you may click here.
The Bottom Line: There is always a bottom line and in this case to bring this multiple space exploration program into reality there needs to be some big, big changes. First the NASA team needs to become a full-fledged NASA-Industrial Complex. Don't let that frighten you. This coordinated activity is the only way we are going to really get out there properly, safely and soon. For this to happen, NASA needs to get its act together. Please, they have done marvelous, amazing and courageous things in their history, but now they have stepped into a much bigger role that needs an entirely new program and fiscal management paradigm.
The above is not going to be an easy process, and there are many out there who rather shoot NASA down than realize that NASA and its industrial/scientific partners are one of the key elements of both our growth and future stability. Space is the next (not the last) frontier and we are a nation that has built itself upon our exploring past frontiers. It has worked well, and this time we stand to move humankind far more forward and beneficially than has ever been done before. Most importantly, the new partnership is an international one that is far more comprehensive than the ones NASA has now. This extends that growth and stability factor around the world. In short, it spells FUTURE.
Now, who among us wants to deny the future? Come aboard and let's go sailing. The universe awaits us.
IMAGE CREDITS: Robots: Toyota Corporation and REUTERS May 4, 2008
Astrophoto: Waddell Robey/Slooh.com 2008.
My Celestia (c) 2009 Waddell Robey. All individual copyrights apply.
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