{"id":746475,"date":"2026-06-19T04:09:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T04:09:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/746475\/"},"modified":"2026-06-19T04:09:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T04:09:10","slug":"man-vs-machine-who-will-walk-on-mars-first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/746475\/","title":{"rendered":"Man vs machine: Who will walk on Mars first?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NEXT STOP, SPACE \ud83d\ude80: Artemis II is roaring into space on a mission to make history after liftoff from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This is humanity\u2019s return to deep space, and a the beginning of a bold journey around the Moon. Stay locked with FOX Weather for every second of this historic mission.<\/p>\n

The race between humans and machines may extend far beyond Earth<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As advances in artificial intelligence and robotics accelerate, humanoid robots could be capable of exploring other worlds within the next decade.<\/p>\n

That raises a fascinating question: Who will walk on Mars<\/a> first: a human or a humanoid robot?<\/p>\n

NASA’S ARTEMIS PROGRAM: PAVING THE WAY FOR HUMANKIND’S RETURN TO THE MOON AND BEYOND<\/a><\/p>\n

NASA<\/a> has ambitious plans to return astronauts to the moon<\/a> through its Artemis<\/a> program as a stepping stone toward eventual crewed missions to Mars.<\/p>\n

While sending humans to Mars remains a long-term goal, robotic explorers could pave the way as technology<\/a> develops to participate in future missions.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

The humanoid robot named ‘Valkyrie’ designed by NASA is on display during the finals of the DARPA Robotics Challenge at the Fairplex complex in Pomona, California.<\/p>\n

(MARK RALSTON\/AFP via Getty Images \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Prediction markets<\/a> are offering insight into how the public views that race. Traders are actively betting on whether a humanoid robot will set foot on Mars before a human astronaut.<\/p>\n

Let’s take a look at how trading on prediction markets has varied and changed.<\/p>\n

In addition to the ambitious goals of NASA, private companies like SpaceX<\/a> aim to push the boundary on what we thought was possible: including going back to the moon to construct a base and, eventually, venturing to Mars.<\/p>\n

SPACE RACE: WILL BLUE ORIGIN LAND ON THE MOON BEFORE SPACEX?<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Close-up color photograph of Mars. Impact craters are visible on the surface of the planet.<\/p>\n

(CORBIS\/Corbis via Getty Images \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Humanoid robots are a rapidly evolving class of machines built to mimic the human body and operate effectively in human-designed spaces.<\/p>\n

While Mars isn’t specifically a human-designed area, it has yet to be strolled upon by humans or humanoid robots.<\/p>\n

NASA SHIFTS FROM VISITING THE MOON TO BUILDING ON IT<\/a><\/p>\n

NASA is already exploring the role that humanoid robots could play in the future of space exploration. The agency’s most advanced humanoid robot, Valkyrie<\/a>, is a six-foot-tall bipedal machine developed at Johnson Space Center.<\/p>\n

Designed to operate in environments that are dangerous for humans, Valkyrie can perform tasks such as climbing stairs, opening doors, using tools and manipulating equipment.<\/p>\n

\"Artistic <\/p>\n

Artistic concept of Phase 3 of NASA\u2019s Moon Base.<\/p>\n

(NASA)<\/p>\n

NASA has also connected Valkyrie’s development to its Artemis-era ambitions. According to the agency, lessons learned from operating humanoid robots today could help create future robotic workers capable of supporting long-term lunar habitats and, eventually, Mars missions.<\/p>\n

Such robots could construct infrastructure<\/a>, perform maintenance and prepare living and working spaces before human crews arrive.<\/p>\n

Whether the first footsteps on Mars belong to a human explorer or a humanoid robot remains an open question. Either would represent a historic<\/a> achievement, particularly if it occurs before 2035.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEXT STOP, SPACE \ud83d\ude80: Artemis II is roaring into space on a mission to make history after liftoff…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":746476,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[49,48,199594,4048,2546,1845,6294,307,102615,66,6888,200466,64],"class_list":["post-746475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-earth-space","tag-history","tag-infrastructure","tag-mars","tag-moon","tag-nasa","tag-prediction-markets","tag-science","tag-spacex","tag-stay22","tag-tech"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/746475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=746475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/746475\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/746476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=746475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=746475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=746475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}