I know that a later development of this sort of research went into the Deep Space 1 Remote Agent -- an experiment in autonomous spacecraft. A malfunction during

I know that a later development of this sort of research went into the Deep Space 1 Remote Agent -- an experiment in autonomous spacecraft. A malfunction during a flyby leaves you p. screwed with the usual approach of going into safe mode and waiting for instructions, given the lightspeed delay. IIRC they coded this part of the system in C++; Ron Garrett's Lisp In Space essay gives some of the background.