Our Favorite Martians: It’s the perfect long-distance relationship: Scientists need the Mars rovers in order to see; the rovers need the scientists in order to think.
Via “Air & Space Magazine” and Seed Magazine“You’re so involved with these machines that they sort of cease to be machines,” says Sharon Laubach, who holds a Ph.D. in robotics and is chief of the JPL group that develops the software instructions for the rovers. “We send them commands, like letters and missives, and they do what they want and write home at the end of the day. These girls are off on their own, and we hope they do what we ask them to.”
These girls. They’re not the first machines to attract emotional attachment from their handlers.
