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AI and robotics will aid, not end, human space exploration

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by Mark R. Whittington, opinion contributor - 04/19/26 10:00 AM ET

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by Mark R. Whittington, opinion contributor - 04/19/26 10:00 AM ET

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Astronauts Thomas Pesquet of France and Matthias Maurer of Germany and their canine-like robot demonstrate their training in lunar surface simulating conditions for future moon missions, like the Artemis lunar exploration program led by NASA, at the opening of the new LUNA facility at the European Astronaut Center in Cologne, Germany, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

While the world still basks in the triumph of the Artemis II mission and looks forward to further triumphs to come, including the eventual next moon landing, a lunar base, and expeditions to Mars, a few people are not as impressed as everyone else.

Those people include Martin Rees — the astronomer royal and a former president of the Royal Society — and Donald Goldsmith, an astrophysicist and science communicator. Rees and Goldsmith have taken to the United Kingdom-based Guardian to express their disdain for human spaceflight.

Their contention is that human space exploration, which they admit has enormous benefits, is simply too expensive and too dangerous. They contend that advances in AI, robotics, and electronics will allow Earth to explore and even commercially exploit other worlds such as the moon and Mars with just machines.

In their vision of a future, a moon base that is a center of science and commerce would not be staffed by astronauts. It would consist of Hal 9000 running a staff of C-3P0s and R2-D2s, with maybe a few Commander Datas, doing everything from lunar mining to maintaining a far side radio telescope.

The fears some harbor that AI and robots will replace human beings on Earth are the fondest hope of Rees and Goldsmith for space. Fortunately, humans will not be replaced either on Earth or in space. It turns out that the new technology of AI paired with robotics will actually enhance human capacity to do useful things.

According to the Harvard Business Review, AI, despite eliminating some jobs, is creating many new ones that focus on AI/human collaboration. AI’s ability to handle repetitive tasks will complement human creativity to solve problems faster and more efficiently.

CNBC notes that while robots will replace humans doing menial and repetitive tasks, (robot lawn care, house cleaning and warehouse and factory work) humans will still have a role in directing those new armies of robot workers.

The new technologies of AI and robotics will take over tasks that involve pattern optimization and matching. Humans will still retain tasks that require creativity, emotional intelligence and determining why actions need to be undertaken.

What does that mean for a lunar base? An AI data center on the moon would have several functions, including controlling robot rovers to map terrain and prospect for resources; processing imagery and sensor readings on site and transmitting the results back to Earth; maintaining the base’s systems, especially life support, and predicting equipment failures before they occur; monitoring astronauts’ health and maintaining situational awareness around the base, especially detecting incoming space debris.

Robots, working in partnership with the astronauts, will perform manual labor that doesn’t require human ingenuity. Exploration teams will likely include at least one humanoid robot along with the astronauts. The humans at the lunar base, relieved of the drudgery of maintaining the facility, will be free to explore the moon, uncover its secrets and exploit its resources.

The late Dr. Paul Spudis noted, in his work “The Value of the Moon,” that field geologists have the training and innate ability to determine the context of a site in a way that no robot or computer could possibly match.

Just as important, human beings whom we send to push back the high frontier of space will impart the wonder and glory of the experience to people back on Earth in ways that no machine could ever do. We saw examples of this when the crew of Artemis II described how their experience of flying around the moon filled them with awe. The inspiration and joy their experiences sparked is beyond evaluation.

Rees and Goldsmith claim that human space exploration is too expensive and dangerous. Ironically, the authors of the piece dismiss entrepreneurs such as SpaceX’s Elon Musk, Blue Origin’s Jeff Bezos, and Rocket Lab’s Peter Beck with a single, snarky paragraph. But these men and others have brought down the cost of space travel by orders of magnitude. Those costs will continue to decline through the power of free market competition.

Space travel, like many human endeavor