Normal version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Yv_I3WZ-GM

Official version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruxRA_IDXJU

Addendum: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmT_s3AcDy0

 

 

Script:

1.
Robotics has played an integral part in space missions. Ever since the 1970’s, mankind has been sending robotic explorers into space. The first successful attempt was the Lunokhod-2 Moon rover. The Soviet Republic launched this rover up in 1973 in order to take moon samples and perform experiments.

It sent back data and photographs, and ushered in a new generation of space exploration. However, progress halted as the success of NASA’s manned lunar landing demoralized the Soviets, causing them to refrain from further development.
Decades later in 1996, The United States made a huge leap in unmanned space exploration by launching the highly mobile Sojourner rover onto the surface of mars. Due to the overwhelming success of the Pathfinder mission, NASA approved the production of two more rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. They were commissioned to characterize the variety of rocks, and search for evidence of water on the surface of the planet. These rovers spent 5 years collecting samples and taking pictures of the martian surface.
NASA’s experimentation continues this year when it launches its new Mars rover, Curiosity, to send us more information about the martian atmosphere.
These rovers are providing more information, over longer periods of time then we could ever have hoped to send humans up for. Without these rovers, we would only have a fraction of the knowledge that we have now about Mars.

2.
Why robots? There are many advantages to using robotics in space exploration.
First, robotic missions typically are a lot less expensive than manned missions. NASA’s Surveyor program sent landers to the moon to take photographs and retrieve samples. Each mission cost about 67 million $. Alternatively, the infamous manned Apollo missions cost about 1.2 billion each.
That’s almost 18 times more expensive! Why? We explored the possible financial differences between the two programs.
Robots are more compact. Humans need living space, air, water and food, whereas robots need none of this. This lowers the weight and surface area of the craft and allows for smaller and less costly rockets. Also, robots typically don’t require a return trip to earth. This saves on fuel both for the trip there and back.

Second, robots, if well-designed, can often get the job done just as well as if not better than a human. This is because robots can be specially designed for their task, whereas humans have to adapt. They can travel long distances or consistently perform precise tasks without tiring. Robots can also go places humans can’t, for example scaling cliff faces or exploring canyons. They can withstand extreme environments within a wide range of temperatures and pressures.

However, robots aren’t just used for exploration.
The Space Shuttle, which regularly performs maintenance on satellites, is equipped with a robotic crane arm called Canadarm. Astronauts have used this machine extensively to repair and deploy satellites, as well as assemble space station modules. Very recently, NASA developed Robonaut, the first humanoid to be used in outer space. It was developed to be able to consistently perform Astronauts’ maintenance tasks with greater dexterity and speed. Because of its humanoid form, these tasks will translate easily. It is currently undergoing testing on the Space Station, and is also being developed to fit on rovers to perform Mars missions someday.

Third and most importantly, using robots in space preserves human life. Unlike humans, robots don’t die; they simply break. During the space race, both Soviet and American unmanned spacecraft were used to test orbital and landing procedures on the moon without costing precious human life. However, accidents still did happen during manned missions as in the case of the Apollo 1 and Space Shuttle Challenger tragedies. This could be avoided in the future by delaying manned missions until a space habitat is fully developed and a consistent, safe means of transportation is created. Meanwhile, we could use robots to perform inexpensive, effective and beneficial exploration missions.

3.
We’ve observed how unmanned robotic missions were beneficial in the past and why they still are today. But how can robots influence space missions in the future? Numerous robotic space missions are being planned and developed to gather data and expand boundaries.
Many of these missions are to the moon, which is a great opportunity for developing countries, organizations, and companies to test things and prove their merit.
Chandrayaan-II, a mission formed through a partnership between the Indian and Russian space agencies, will send a rover to the lunar surface. Likewise, the Chinese National Space Agency has plans for a rover. Both of these missions are scheduled for 2013.
The Google Lunar X-prize has provided competitive incentives for teams around the world to develop and launch unmanned lunar rovers. 29 diverse teams, comprised of researchers from countries like Israel, Hungary, and even Malaysia, as well as multiple college teams and open-source teams, formed to compete.
NASA has sent many unmanned robotic missions to Mars, and is planning one that will top them all. The rover they’re sending is called Curiosity, and it is the size of a small car. It will be lowered onto the martian surface by a cable, like a crane, and it will perform extensive exploration and soil sample analysis.

4.
As we can see, robots will have a significant role in  future space exploration. They are cheaper than and safer than humans, and allow us to preserve lives while still gathering as much information. They can perform many jobs better than humans can in a shorter amount of time, and they can be sent deep into space to open up new frontiers, by performing acts     such as constructing bases to exploring and sending back important information. Robots can become the trail-blazers in space, paving the way for us to follow into unknown territories. Robotics will affect the progress of future space missions in a tremendous way.