> We're not even close to bootstraping a cluster of autonomous robots on the moon, taking over the basic functions of base operations. Any humans at current stage is basically on sightseeing duty.
That's not really fair to say that people are there just to observe. For instance, Apollo folks took a lot more of geological samples that Lunokhods did and from a larger variety of places. The difference in mass was about 1000x (almost a ton vs almost a kg), geographical coverage was about 1000x and getting to different features was immensely easier for humans.
That's not really fair to say that people are there just to observe. For instance, Apollo folks took a lot more of geological samples that Lunokhods did and from a larger variety of places. The difference in mass was about 1000x (almost a ton vs almost a kg), geographical coverage was about 1000x and getting to different features was immensely easier for humans.
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sample-return_mission