Intelligence and Autonomy
Intelligence has been defined in different ways, including the abilities for abstract thought,
understanding, communication, reasoning, learning, retaining, planning, and problem solving.
Intelligence is most widely studied in humans, but has also been observed in animals and plants.
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines or the simulation of intelligence in machines.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence
Autonomy - one who gives oneself their own law. It is a concept found in moral, political and bioethical
philosophy. Within these contexts, it is the capacity of a rational individual to make an informed, uncoerced decision. An autonomous Space Craft might make certain decisions for itself based on imagery
observation and a pre-programmed algorithm that will determine the only possible logical outcome and
then perform that task without having to ask controllers NAND NOR AND types of parameters.
Autonomy in Space does not relate to the socio-political definitions, here we are talking about a device
that can make basic or convoluted decisions based on LOGIC (in an electronic usage), the X37b Military
Space Plane is a great example!