Abstract

Four Earth-born, human-made robotic rovers have successfully landed on Mars. Equipped with a range of sophisticated technical instruments for imaging, sensing, measuring, data processing, communication and navigation, these semi-autonomous devices follow the directives of their human “drivers”, performing exploratory observations, assessments and evaluations and reporting the findings back to their command centres on Earth. In this paper I explore the ways in which robotic exploration of Mars facilitates productive exchanges within the ontological nexus of the human–technological, forging new configurations between the ambits of life and labour which may determine the prospects of post-terrestrial robotic futures.