Immobots take control: it's a dangerous world, but machines that "know themselves" can deal with crises autonomously--and often more effectively than their human programmers.

Technology Review (Cambridge, Mass.), December, 2002 by Wade Roush

the Mars Polar Lander never had a chance.

At 12:02 P.M. California time on December 3, 1999, after an 11-month journey to Mars, the NASA spacecraft slewed its antenna away from Earth in preparation for entry into the Martian atmosphere. That was the last time mission controllers heard from it. According to the scenario a NASA accident-review board deemed most likely, the Lander dropped out of orbit, deployed its parachute, and began firing its descent engines to slow its fall--just as it was programmed to do. But as the craft's three landing legs automatically unfolded, sensors in the legs sent false signals to the Lander's control software, indicating that it had touched down. Not programmed to deal with such a scenario, the software ignored signs that the craft was...