The suspension of space flights pending the shuttle investigation may well disrupt plans to launch two unmanned space probes from shuttles in May. If the May launches are delayed the probes won't be feasible again until mid-1987, said Frank Bristow, JPL's chief spokesman.

"The national decision is that the launch vehicle for all spacecraft will be the shuttle, therefore we are part of the manned program, we are dependent on the manned program," said JPL director Lew Allen.

Fred Culick, a robotics expert at the California Institute of Technology, said technology has not advanced far enough for robots to replace man in space.

"They can process large amounts of information in a short period of time, but they don't go up and down stairs very well," Culick said. "We've got a long way to go to get them to do complicated tasks."

And robots have a harder time capturing the public's imagination by exhibiting the "right stuff," the courage to sit atop a giant rocket and be hurled into space.

"There are things being done by the manned program that help man a great deal," Freeman said. "I believe in the manned program. I believe man does have to go into the final frontier. I just don't want the manned space program to eat the unmanned's lunch."