President Obama's new approach for NASA could see a maturing of robotic technology. The plan calls for two missions a year to the Moon exploring the surface, finding water ice and learning how to utilize it, developing mining techniques, and preparing landing sites for future manned missions. Another program, a joint effort between NASA and GM, is developing a humanoid robot that will work alongside astronauts on EVAs, making the human part of the team more productive.
The plan also foresees using privately owned and operated robots for some work. That could give the companies involved in the Google Lunar X-Prize some place to go after that competition. A few of them already have business plans extending beyond GLXP, but the Obama approach might let more of the teams stay together at a profit.
After the Moon, there might also be asteroids and Mars. As Daniel Boone helped open the trans-Appalachian west to American settlers just a bit more than two centuries ago, so could our robots lead a wave of humanity into the Solar System.
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