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The End of Astronauts: Why Robots Are the Future of Exploration
Bottom of the pile
10
/100
I Index Overall Rating
Readers
2/100Critics
17/100Scholars
Author:
Donald Goldsmith, Martin Rees
Publisher:
Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University Press
Date:
April 19, 2022
Human space journeys are awe-inspiring but risky and immensely expensive. Donald Goldsmith and Martin Rees argue that science calls for leaving space exploration to AI-guided robots, since robots range more widely and see more than any human can. Humanity's future in space must await decisions based on results from our ever-better machines.
What The Reviewers Say
In The End of Astronauts: Why Robots Are the Future of Exploration, they challenge the three most commonly cited rationales for putting humans in space.
Our heroic authors take a firmer grip on their cudgels to explain why we should give up on manned space exploration. No, the moon is not rich in helium-3, harvesting it would be a nightmare, and the technology we’d need so we can use it for nuclear fusion remains hypothetical.
Goldsmith and Rees provide plenty of data to back up their arguments, and balance optimism with logic.
