A then-local author, Phillip C. Jennings, published a story collection called The Bug Life Chronicles in 1988. One of the details that struck me was the idea of uploading minds to very light solar-powered chips, which would then drift around the system on the solar winds.
The current space shuttle mission (STS-134) is carrying an experiment, the Sprite project, that at least expresses interest in the idea of chips blowing around the system on the solar wind.
I first saw mention of this in the LA Times.