lukas aeschlimeann aiaa essay contest winner

7/30/2019 Lukas Aeschlimeann AIAA essay contest winner

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LukasAeschlimann

ZahirRobb

STAR Prep

Academy

Essay: How Humans and Robots Can Work Together to Explore Mars

Many people believe that humans and robots are complete

opposites, with different origins, attributes, skills, or abilities. Like night

and day, or human and Martian. How could such opposites work

together to do anything, especially something as complex and delicate

as exploring another planet, Mars? Quite smoothly. Humans and robots

are not necessarily opposite, but rather dependent on one another for

numerous tasks in varied situations. Humans and robots together

provide more options than would be possible if you settled for just one

of them. In other words, there are myriad ways in which humans and

robots can work together to explore Mars. In fact, they have a

symbiotic relationship that is already at work helping to do just that.

One example of this symbiosis is in the remote operation of the

Mars rovers, mobile robots placed on the surface by immobile robots

called landers. The humans remotely operating the rovers from Earth

depend on them to gather scientific data and images of Mars. The

rovers, on the other hand, depend on the humans commanding them

in order to move and interact with their environment. This

collaboration between humans on Earth and robots on Mars is

producing new discoveries almost daily about the chemistry, weather,


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and geography of Mars.

Currently, JPL and NASA are working together with robots to pave

the way for humans to go to Mars. For example, two missions, the Mars

Reconnaissance Orbiter and the 2001 Mars Odyssey, are searching for

usable resources of a specific substance: water. Water is, essentially,

the key to life. Humans can go for long periods of time without food,

but can go only for a significantly shorter period of time without water.

While water has been found already on Mars in the form of ice,

scientists have not found resources of it that they could extract liquid

water from, or figured out a way to convert it from the ice.

The 2001 Mars Odyssey is also examining Marss radiation. If we

understand the radiation of Mars, we can know what kind of effects on

astronauts and their equipment the UV radiation from the sun,

unhampered thanks to the lack of ozone on Mars, would have. Its not

just the radiation itself we have to worry about. Superoxides have been

found in the soil on Mars. A superoxide is a compound that attacks

organic molecules when exposed to ultraviolet radiation, creating

potential complications to long-term habitation on Mars. It is possible

that there are additional exotic hazards, and if so, we need to know.

Successful scientific exploration can only be achieved by anticipating

as many surprises as realistically possible.

Orbiters other than the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are helping

us understand Marss geology and climate, due to their birds eye view


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of Mars. Marss crater and volcano filled geology and its dust-storm

generating climate should both be understood incredibly well in order

to find an optimal landing site and to prepare for any surprises the

weather of Mars might throw the astronauts way. The orbiters can

help us gain that kind of understanding.

Now lets imagine, within the restrictions of reality, how humans

and robots will work together when we eventually do send humans to

Mars. I think that their symbiotic relationship will be even more

effective. A human on Mars could control and adjust the robot better

than a human on Earth because they would have a better view of the

environment, or of any problem encountered by the robot. If a dust

storm covers the robot in dust, causing the camera to be blocked,

people on Earth would not be able to properly manage the situation. A

human on Mars, on the other hand, would be right there, could see the

problem much better, and thus be able either to direct people on Earth

in how to operate the robot, or simply remove the dust themselves.

The presence of robots would also make it easier for humans to

do science. When a human first arrives on Mars, acquiring the water

from previously discovered sources would be of prime importance.

Instead of a human doing the job, a robot could be sent to find and

extract the water. This would allow the human to start conducting

scientific research that much earlier. Furthermore, robots could be

used to perform other ongoing tasks related to basic survival, which


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would allow the human research to go much more efficiently. The

presence of the orbiters would also make it easier to communicate

with, and send information to, mission control. The human could send

signals up to the orbiter, which would then relay them to mission

control cleanly and efficiently, as they have done in the past with the

rovers. In addition, the orbiters could also be used to watch for dust

storms and alert mission control and the astronauts, so that they can

prepare and avoid potentially lethal complications. Also, remember

those landers? They could be outfitted with the proper technology to

allow them to do sample returns before the humans are ready to leave.

In conclusion, when we humans join the robots on Mars, the

robots will have already reduced the potential hardships and hazards

for humans. Even if there are no Martians to greet us, at least there

will be robots. And while robots, as far as we know, do not feel

loneliness, humans certainly do. To help humans deal with the

psychology of feeling isolated on Mars, perhaps robot pets can be sent

along. The future of Mars exploration and human-robot cooperation is

full of possibilities. We just have to make use of them.

lukas aeschlimeann aiaa essay contest winner

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