Sending people into space can not only be very risky, but also very expensive. Human missions need a lot of support from teams on the ground. One way of keeping costs lower would be to use robots in place of at least some of the human astronauts on space missions. But the trouble is, these robots would have to be very smart in order to be useful. Scientists at the University of Liverpool are working with NASA to develop software for robots that would help them act intelligently, to “think” and make decisions on their own. These smart robots would be able to help humans on space missions by carrying out complex tasks — or even someday explore space on their own, with help from humans on the ground. Can you imagine a group of robots exploring the moon?

Source: Liverpool scientists to develop space robots with NASA