Andy Weir in Science Robotics argues you wouldn't risk humanity’s survival on a robot built in two years. He's right. Real-world space robotics isn’t ready for a crash 2-3 year development cycle for a desperate interstellar mission.

May the 4th be with you! And there are lots of cool robots in the Star Wars scifi universe. What's the real world science behind them?

Who knew Val Kilmer starred in a scifi movie with a robot on Mars? No one knows… because Red Planet was a big budget flop. But the AMEE robot anticipated Perseverance and Ingenuity by 10 years!