"This," Mr. Nicholson said, referring to jobs that can be done in orbit only by people, not robots or robotic craft, is "what manned space flight is all about."

Future robotic craft will be sent there to collect rocks for life-detection analysis back on Earth.

Despite his long work on robotic craft, he is described as a fierce advocate of manned missions and sending astronauts to Mars.

Built by Boeing, the Air Force's robotic craft is about 9m long and has a payload bay volume similar to that of a small van.

The robotic craft began orbiting Saturn on June 30.

The United States and Russia spent billions on a dozen or so robotic craft meant to land on the planet and radio back their findings.

Which is where future robotic craft will be seeking signs of life.

The robotic craft, the Helios Prototype, set a world altitude record for winged aircraft by soaring to 96,863 feet two years ago.

He noted that Japan had a lunar exploration program involving unmanned spacecraft and that the American proposal called for sending robotic craft, as well as people, to the Moon.

The Soviets plan another exploratory mission to Mars in 1994 in which a robotic craft would be launched, a third mission to retrieve Martian soil samples in 2000 and a manned flight by 2010.