Some trials are going on now (Jun 14-17)

Lunar Science Institute web site

Other than the political/pr angles, I really do not see what humans will add to the lunar exploration missions other than the incredible cost to safely get them there, survive, and get back. Robots will be able to be operated 24/7 for years while the astronauts will be there for a few short weeks/months. Astronaut upkeep overhead will limit the actual astronaut exploration time to days.

Meanwhile teleoperated robots will be able to go further, see more, and the overhead for them to survive will be minimal. Humans will require the tools just like robots to actually accomplish much. Yes, human astronauts will be able to accelerate operations for short bursts, but it will not overcome the increased overhead for their survival and return.

These would be pretty simple equations to compute. For any given goal/task, is there any reason it could not be done with teleoperated robots? I think the answer is no until you get to actual colonization. Then the next question is how much would it cost to do without human astronauts? And the final question is how much would it cost with the astronauts? As far as I know there are no current projects other than reconnaisance and sample collection. And I think it is very clear that with current technology, the mobility and flexibility of teleoperated semiautonomous robots is sufficient and inexpensive enough to accomplish ground based recon. And easily provable, that it wold be much cheaper without worrying about human astronauts survival.

Will NASA ever have the guts to admit these facts?