The Impact of Robots on Planetary Mission Operations

Abstract

For reasons of efficiency and safety, unmanned roving vehicles sent to explore remote planetary surfaces must carry out some of their tasks without step-by-step human control. To realize the benefits that such semiautonomous machines can provide will require some changes in how planetary missions axe presently planned and conducted. Specifically, mission profiles will have to be based on tasks or functions rather than sequences of timed events, scientists will have to be more directly involved in the control of their instruments, and present ideas concerning spacecraft safety, testing and simulation of vehicle performance, telemetry design, and ground-system implementation must be reexamined.