Virtual exploration could be the future of space science

Space agencies and private companies alike have ramped up efforts to bring humans further than ever before. But, according to a series of new studies, robots may be the ones leading the way in future space endeavours. Scientists say humans in orbit could operate robotic systems down at the surface by relying on telepresence, enabling virtual exploration – and, some even say artificially intelligent probes could learn to carry out missions almost entirely on their own. By deploying astronauts to a planet's orbit, such as Mars, humans could control the instruments down below in real-time. And, this would allow them to essentially use a'robotic surrogate' – meaning the researchers could experience the surface environment virtually Curiosity is normally piloted remotely by humans, but signals can take up to 24 minutes to get from Earth to Mars. Nasa has decided to allow Curiosity's autonomous systems, which are used to pick out rocks to fire lasers at, more control to streamline missions.