[Q&A+] RoboAstronauts, Replacing Kepler, Starship HLS in Danger | Q&A 307
Will astronauts be eventually replaced by robots in space? Is there a plan for a replacement for the Kepler telescope? Do Intuitive Machines failures mean that Starship HLS is kind of in danger? And in our free bonus question on Patreon, will Artemis become 100% SpaceX? All this and more in this Q&A show.
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Comments (6)
Inevitably 😎
You say hopefully there is an evacuation plan for Starship so astronauts can escape to be rescued. Is there actually a backup rescue plan in place though? Also, I wouldn't think a complete redesign would be necessary for the landing legs. Leave them as they are and add retractable extensions to them.
There are multiple solutions for legs, but I think any will cover a wider area. Gravity on the moon is only about 1/6 earth, so longer legs would not necessarily be a great deal of weight or mass. They may need to absorb unevenness in the surface which could be done as a one off with crushable parts, or better with a method of slipping when the force exceeds their design force, but with an electronic override to allow for uneven ground. Having seen how well starship can hover, they may just hover and extend the legs until they hit something substantial, or the reverse and slowly sink allowing them to retract until the last one hits something substantial then lock the others off. All and many other ideas are sure to be simulated to the nth degree before a decision is made.
Fraser, would ESA or JAXA take over the Earth observation science if NASA’s budget guts those missions?
Repairing Hubble couldn't be done by robot
Yet. But soon I expect.