by Dan Lester |If humans could get close to the planetary
surface, perhaps just in orbit above it, truly cognitive
teleoperation could be achieved at multiple sites with high-
quality virtual presence.| This vision seriously colors the
public view of space robotics in ways that are less than
constructive. While Spirit and Opportunity move, see, and can
even touch, they conform only loosely to that public view of
robots. Cassini can move and see also, but the popularization of
the word “robot” fits it even less well. It doesn’t have legs,
arms, or even wheels! Certainly Robonaut 2 on the International
Space Station is widely appreciated as a robot, because although
it hasn’t really done much yet, it has a head and fingers, and
it can even sign a greeting and shake a hand! As noted in my
earlier essay (see “Human spaceflight, and the reason for
(almost) being there”, The Space Review, July 5, 2011), using
machines to bring our cognition to new places in space is an
effort seriously handicapped by distance, the s