August 4, 2003
A: FROM MENTOR MARTY CHINTALA IN RI
Alexis, this is a good question. Ans as you have heard before, it is
a matter of opinion. I do agree that a balanced approach is best.
There are many good and valid reasons to use robots, ROVs, AUVs and the
like. Not the least of which is ease of use and ability to do more than
what a human can do within a certain span of time. But you still need
humans sometimes for the best results. The "robots" (used for the
combined list of devices mentioned above) cannot react on their own-
they do what they are told. Humans, on the other hand, can react to
specific things that they see or feel. As a result they are able to get
information that robots cannot. I am a firm believer in the fact that
you need to understand the organisms that you work with, and have some
knowledge of how they interact with other organisms and their
environment in order to be able to put your results into context and
make valid conclusions.

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July 31, 2003
A: FROM MENTOR LAUREN BATTE IN MD
This is just my personal opinion but I have to agree with you that
there is nothing that matches actual human experience in certain
situations. The manned vs. unmanned platform debate continues to be a
serious one.

The strongest argument against manned exploration is frequently the cost
which is no small concern. In a time of tight budgets across many
sectors, cost effective means of conducting work are often desirable.
At least underwater (the area I am familiar with), autonomous underwater
vehicles (AUVs) and Remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) perform invaluable
tasks not only in pure science but for commercial, military, and other
endeavours.

It is true that platforms such as underwater labs, submarines,
submersibles, and space shuttles are costly. However, I believe that a
combination of both manned and unmanned platforms is the ideal situation
to achieve the priority objectives underwater.

I'll give you an example from my personal experience. The objective of
the mission at Aquarius that I participated in was to investigate
certain aspects of coral reef bleaching. The grant that my professor
received to use Aquarius included the use of the a boat outside of the
mission at other times during the year. He will travel back to Florida
several other times this year with an AUV that he (and others) designed
and built. The combination of the saturation time in the lab and
followup, related measurements with the AUV will allow for a broader
understanding and outcome from that which could be acheived using only
one piece of this two part equation.

This is a great question and I encourage you to keep learning more about
it through reading and talking to people.
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A: FROM MENTOR KRISTIN TAGHON IN IL
Alexis,
It seems that this question is really a matter of opinion, as far as what is
best for Science. My thought is that there is a healthy balance that needs to
be met - use of robotics until the human interaction is needed. This way, most
of the information can be gathered in a safe and efficient way, limiting human
interaction, but not eliminating it. What do YOU think?