Human space exploration, Robotic space exploration or?

As the Pluto thread got hijacked over this subject, I thought it would make a great thread of its own. I personally believe Robots with sensors should be probing interesting areas of space for potential human colonies, resource gathering etc...

Seeing cool new stuff is cool and all that and it makes Scientist a giggly inside, but if we don't start mining resources and moving humanity off Earth we will end. Mining will make it worth the while for everyone on earth who would make use of resources. Colonies would get all our eggs out of this one basket called Earth before they get cracked and help ensure Humanity can survive any Earth catastrophes.

Humanity must move into space but Robots make the most sense for initial exploration. Cheaper and safer.

a reply to: Xeven
Space is hostile to life.

Unless you bring earth with you you are stuck for now. Let the probes do the probing. We get way more information form their sensors than we do with humans. As soon a we include humanity in the loop the agenda changes from science to frivolous.

a reply to: Xeven

We desperately need off this planet, but the distances involved are nothing short of intimidating. Just out of curiosity, I converted the speed of the New Horizons probe, from MPH to FPS. It was amazing. The probe was said to be the fastest ever launched, traveling at 36,000 mph. That converts to 52,800 feet per second. Almost 53,000 feet per second and it still took over 9 years to get there. To get out to the asteroid belt and send a few home for mining, we need better engines, faster craft and politicians with the foresight to help get it done. We gotta lot of work to do and we need to get busy soon.

a reply to: Xeven

Robotic landers and rovers are all very well, but there will never be a replacement for putting human boots on a planet, and spending time on it on an experimental basis, to see if the environment would be suitable for a human habitat of any size or significance.

They might provide us with some good recon data, but other than that, you need boots on the ground and eyes and ears down every hole, gap, crevasse, fissure, crack and cave mouth, up every mountain, bluff and hillock, both poles of the planet, and so on, before you can know for sure what worth a given location has for permanent settlement.