They would transport these robots across space simply by hurling them out through the atmosphere towards their targets. The robots were build to take it – they were own little spaceships. Two of them had been dispatched to a far-away planetoid for scientific study. It was a fifteen year trip. The robots flew through space toward the target, always about a quarter mile from each other, always communicating.
COREA-A’s nav unit had stopped functioning correctly a few months into the trip. It had to rely on COREA-B for constant nav info updates.
They flew through space together.
At one point, they had to pass through an asteroid belt. COREA-A signaled to COREA-B for to see if it had safe clearance through the asteroid belt.
“1”, COREA-B signaled back, which meant everything was fine.
But everything wasn’t fine. COREA-A, traveling hundreds of miles an hour, crashed into a large space rock and burst into a million bits. Just before it destructed, COREA-A managed to send out a final emergency signal.
And after there were no more signals. COREA-B traveled along in silence.