[RogerBW]

If an interstellar trip is to happen at all, which is its own argument in which I'm not participating, then I think the arguments for an all-infomorph crew are compelling.

If I were living in TS and had the resources, I'd be (a) looking at exoplanet data (when you have observers all over the solar system you have a really big synthetic aperture telescope), and (b) sending out Starwisps to promising stars to take a closer look. Neither of these needs the resources of a major economy to perform. Sending substantial hardware can come later, once one knows what's there, who can live there, and so on.