In Japan, Eight People With Two Laptops Launch A Telescope Into Orbit A new low-cost highly automated rocket from Japan's space agency launched Saturday with just eight crew members and two laptops on-site. Japan's previous launches required teams of 150.The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency sent the first of its new generation of launch vehicles into orbit carrying a telescope that will observe the atmospheres of Venus Mars and Jupiter. The telescope's measurements will provide astronomers with clues to events early in the solar system's history according to the agency's description of the project.A large control room could be integrated into a single laptop PC the rocket's project manager Yasuhiro Morita said in a statement in 2011.'We are trying to make rocket launches much simpler and ordinary events.'The new rocket called Epsilon has artificial intelligence to perform its own safety checks. Its computer system reduces the number of people needed at a launch site from the 150 that were standard at Japan's previous space launches.Japan's space program JAXA developed both its Epsilon Launch Vehicle and the small satellite carrying the planet-viewing telescope so that it could launch more missions more frequently. We are trying to make rocket launches much simpler and ordinary events Morita said. The agency retired Epsilon's predecessor a rocket called M-5 seven years ago because of its high costs the BBC reported. It took $37 million to develop the Epsilon half of what it cost to develop the M-5.The mission was originally supposed to launch in August but blastoff was first delayed and then cancelled apparently because of computer glitches. JAXA reported Saturday's launch went fine and that the satellite now in orbit is in good health.[Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency BBC]Why do photos of Japan always seem so clean and tidy?Eat you heart out N.Korea. ROFL5 years from now they'll use 2 smart phones.150 to just 8!!!! HAHAHAA! Man that is awesome. Automation will kill the average tech job and even a control engineers job too! Lol. Scary and awesome. Do not try and bend the spoon. That is impossible. Only try and realize the truth - there is no spoon.People are becoming obsolete.  But nothings new natural evolution of the concept of a tool as the tools become more automated they need us less and less.  Driverless cars will go to pick up your order from a cookless McDonald and drop your cloths off at the oporatorless drycleaning machine built into a 20ft shipping container.  Will be a few people running maintenance for a while but eventually even that will be automated too.  Police force will be replaced with drone copters that taze you and fly off to prisons without hallways instead your cell is moved from place to place.So basically humans are working for machines now as the AI will direct workers to areas that need maintenance. That's cool I think I would rather work for a machine than my boss.Bill Joy -Chief Scientist and Co-Founder- Sun Micro Systems sums it up best in this Wired article. It is an amazing read on the battle of Humanity Vs. Technology. Very real. He talks about something I am paraphrasing (more deadly than nuclear chemical or biological war. Something that hides right in front of us mans need for bigger better and faster.) I highly recommend this read:http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.04/joy.htmlDo not try and bend the spoon. That is impossible. Only try and realize the truth - there is no spoon.