^^ I wish someone would get Orion working for Orbiter again.
I'll be long dead before our species reaches the point where it can colonize other worlds, but for the record:
Nothing beats setting foot on unexplored terrain.
Part of the human spirit is exploration; to see new lands with our own eyes and feel the soil under our boots. This is where I start having issues with space exploration today and the drive toward using autonomous landers -- I fear that it will become habitual and completely eliminate the need or desire to explore firsthand. That leads me to wonder, would the human spirit indeed be crushed by total dependence on machines?
I try to balance that with the notion that we must use landers to further our understanding before committing any jellyware (people) to the destination. It would be foolish and irresponsible to drop people off somewhere without first assessing what risks are present and whether the region can shelter life. I just don't want our future generations to rely solely upon machinery to do what a human can and should do.
