Woods Hole Nereus Reaches Deepest Part of the Ocean

Manned exploration is relatively uneconomical so both autonomous and teleoperated robotic exploration of the deep oceans is now the standard. Why is space EXPLORATION any different? The economics are so clear, I don't even understand the current debate on this. Until we have the infrastructure built up to colonize or space tourists pay enough to support manned trips, we should explore and recon using science probes. Teleoperated semi-autonomous robots can be used to build infrastructure offworld much cheaper than any kind of manned operation.

Robots don't have to return and they can be built resistant to space hazards of radiation and lack of atmosphere. The moon is only 1.3 light seconds away, meaning the communiction lag is only 2.6 seconds. Bringing back enough info to create a virtual environment would obviously create more of a lag. While direct manipulation and feedback would be awkward, tasks can be done relatively simply with simulated environments that are updated as fast as possible and simply interrupt when the simulated environment diverges from the real environment. I can't really think of any tasks that couldn't be handled pretty expeditiously by a mix of automated and semi-automated robots.

I long for a program that could start launching in volume and while not reckless, being aggressive. Our manned program is ultra conservative (human safety requires this) and as a result ultra slow in its developments. We could accelerate our moon exploration/devlopment by at least an order of magnitude if we would just face the economic facts of the situation. LRO is a first step towards this, but what is needed is an agreessive plan to automate exploration, prospecting, and infrastructure building on the moon. And the launch vehicles to transport all this doesn't need to be man rated.