Robots are, according to their more optimistic builders, on the verge of entering widespread public use, just as personal computers were in 1980. We've heard this before, of course: by 2001 we were all supposed to have personal robots cooking our meals and doing our cleaning. But other than the robots on factory floors, most have remained research projects or curiosities, like Sony's humanoid Qrio, which — impressively, we admit — can run, dance and conduct the Tokyo Philharmonic.

Yet the list of jobs tackled by robots keeps getting longer. Autonomous or nearly autonomous machines can now vacuum your living room, perform some surgery, and, if the organizers of the Robocup soccer tournament get their way, will take the World Cup from humans by 2050. And although it's not yet clear which, if any, of these applications might move robots into the mainstream of everyday life, it is reasonable to expect that within 20 years, by the time people are ready to land on the Moon again, robots will be more of a presence in society than they are today.

NASA can help bring this about. The ambitious goal of extending human presence to other worlds — the only goal that now makes sense for astronauts, because nearly all scientific data collection will soon be done more cost-effectively by robots — could be a welcome spur for robotics research (see page 888). Current US government investment in robotics is modest. If NASA adds billions of dollars to the research pool, engineers could go a long way towards solving fundamental problems in control algorithms, mechanisms and components, leading to the next generation of robots.

Not all the US work needs to be done at the space agency. One can imagine the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and other agencies funding some of the basic research, while NASA builds and demonstrates advanced robotic systems for, say, the construction of an automated lunar base.

What is most needed, though, is a full recognition that robots are central to NASA's new plan to send people to the Moon and Mars. In the past, the task of simply keeping astronauts flying has consumed most of the resources allocated to NASA's human spaceflight programme. The robots were seen as promising technologies for the future, but were not really necessary today.

By raising the profile of robotics research, the space agency will better achieve its goals while advancing an important area of technology. NASA needs robots, and robotics researchers need NASA.