'Artificial super astronauts': How AI and robotics could help humanity settle Mars

"Artificial astronauts" could fly as actual crew members on human missions to Mars, and elsewhere in space.

These rugged, space-rated artificial humans offer great advantages, advocates say. For example, they would not require the large amounts of consumables needed to support humans. They could also perform spacewalks without a life-support system.

While not everyone will agree on the predicted rate of development of robotics and artificial intelligence (AI), the idea is that progress will be fast, commensurate with timescales over which Mars campaigns are planned and implemented, unlike in the past.

"This is forcing careful strategic thinking about what planetary exploration capabilities and systems to develop and include on missions, versus those that will mature anyway via broader societal advancements in robotics and AI," explained Pascal Lee, a planetary scientist at the SETI Institute in California.

Lee is also chairman of the Mars Institute and director of the NASA Haughton-Mars Project at NASA's Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley.

Same physical traits

"As we enter the 'Age of AI,' robotics and AI are making strides to achieve the first artificial humans," Lee said, "androids given the same physical traits and mobility as humans and equipped with artificial general intelligence (AGI)."

Lee broached the topic at a Space Robotics Workshop held in late July, labeling his talk "Humans To Mars in the Age of AI."

Further down the road, Lee told Space.com, as we achieve the creation of "artificial super humans" (artificial humans animated with artificial super intelligence (ASI) — we could have "artificial super astronauts" who would be better in all respects than humans at the exploration of space, including journeys to Titan, a moon of Saturn, and outward to the stars.

Proud parents

"It is important to realize that once we achieve artificial humans, let alone artificial super humans, our relationship with androids will change. We will no longer think of them as just machines but as our offspring," said Lee. "We will be proud of them, like proud parents, and will live vicariously through their extraordinary adventures, including interstellar travel."

Rather than sending multigenerational interstellar starships, Lee envisions just sending interstellar ships with artificial super astronauts carrying and safekeeping human DNA to hospitable exoplanets.

Rethink human journeys

"For now, in the near future, the impact of AI on space exploration is that we have to rethink how we will plan our human journeys to, and exploration of, Mars," Lee said.

Beyond thinking of robots as just specialized assistants, Lee advises that we have to consider the possibility that, within the next few years and decades, we will see the emergence of a new entity, the artificial astronaut.

"I think humans will still go to space and explore Mars and beyond, but we will be in interesting company," Lee concluded.

Optimistic about Optimus

SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk is of like mind.

Earlier this year, Musk said that the company aims to launch a small, uncrewed fleet of its Starship megarockets toward Mars in late 2026, carrying Tesla Optimus humanoid robots to explore the Red Planet.

"Starship departs for Mars at the end of next year, carrying Optimus. If those landings go well, then human landings may start as soon as 2029, although 2031 is more likely," wrote Musk in a post on X.