In the famous book by H.G. Wells, Martians come and attack the earth, and the world as the humans know it ends forever. Now, the humans are trying to find the Martians before they find us. In 2007, The Odyssey spacecraft discovered several large holes in the planet's surface. Unfortunately, the craft was too big to explore the caves. Now, NASA scientists are contemplating sending swarms of smaller robots to explore the caves in search of extraterrestrial life. These robots (called Jallbots) would be sent in groups of 40-60. Jallbots would sense caves by the sharp decline in temperature caused by the change in elevation.
I think this is a good idea. Science, and space in particular, is an amazing area of study that we have yet to explore fully. There's no telling what would happen if we did discover life on Mars. It could be a dangerous mission, but that's the benefit of using robots instead of humans - robots' lives are dispensable. While they cost a lot of money, they don't cost nearly as much as a larger spaceship, a rover, or a human life. We have amazing technology, and we should use it to learn of and explore the greatest parts of our universe.
For more information, see the Wired article on the subject.
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