["There's a relationship between human and robotic science exploration right now," said John Connolly, NASA's acting chief exploration scientist. "The robots we put down on Mars are our avatars right now. They are our eyes, our feet, our hands on the ground that inform us before we get there. Without these robots doing this work, it would be a very risky endeavor getting to Mars."
He added that sending humans to Mars largely depends on the information that robotic rovers and the Mars orbiters send back about the planet's geology, mineral makeup, water reserves and atmosphere.
"The robotic missions on Mars are helping us to handle these big questions," said Connolly.
During a news conference at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington today, Connolly added that Curiosity's discovery of evidence of ancient water flows as well as water in the Martian soil now is the most exciting find NASA has made yet.
"Finding water is like finding gold," said Connolly. "It's the stuff of rocket fuel. It's what astronauts will need. Finding that there are large amounts of water on Mars is the one find that's changed our way of thinking about human exploration of Mars."]
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9245227/NASA_robots_blaze_the_trail_for_humans_on_Mars
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