Limited by cost: The case against humans in the scientific exploration of space

Human space flight represents a heady mix of bravery and drama which can be inspirational to nations and to humankind but at huge economic cost. Due to the current high launch costs only a handful of people have ventured beyond low Earth orbit and walked on the Moon, propelled by aspirations related more to the Cold War than to science. Problems with reusable launch vehicle development mean that severe launch cost limitations will exist for some time. Meanwhile, cheaper robotic probes have visited all the planets except Pluto, flown by comets, landed on Mars, Venus and an asteroid, have probed Jupiter's atmosphere and studied the Universe beyond our own solar system with telescopes. Using these data we are determining mankind's place in the Universe. Public interest in the historic Eros landing eclipsed a simultaneous space walk at the fledgling International Space Station and the Mars Pathfinder landing generated hundreds of millions of website hits in a few days. Given the fact that hundreds of Mars missions could be flown for the still-escalating cost of the International Space Station, the unsuitability of human bodies for deep space exploration, and the advances in 3-d and virtual reality techniques, we discuss whether human exploration needs a place in a realistic, useful and inspirational space programme.