"Our objective is still to maintain Hubble as a productive scientific asset," O'Keefe said at a news briefing at the American Astronomical Society's annual meeting. "We are working diligently to extend Hubble's life in a way that will enable it continue to do world class science."

In an accompanying news release, O'Keefe said, "This is the first step in a long process of developing the best options to save Hubble. We are on a tight schedule to assure a Hubble servicing mission toward the end of calendar year 2007. But we must act promptly to fully explore this approach."

O'Keefe downplayed the possibility of space shuttle flight to service Hubble, saying the report by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board -- which was convened after the spacecraft disintegrated over Texas on Feb. 1, 2003 -- probably precluded clearing a shuttle mission before the telescope's batteries failed.

He also said the primary goal of a robotic mission remains installing a deorbiting module aboard the Hubble, which would be meant to guide the telescope to a prearranged impact site back on Earth. However, NASA will also consider other tasks, including installing new batteries, gyros and new scientific instruments. But the agency's first priority will be to make sure the Hubble does not experience a potentially hazardous uncontrolled re-entry into Earth's atmosphere, which is likely to happen early in the next decade.

"We are quite optimistic, we got some very creative ideas about how to go about this," O'Keefe said.

He declined to speculate on the cost of a robotic mission. Estimates have been very wide ranging, he said, and "we'll have to see what the proposals come back and suggest."

Although the money will come out of NASA's exploration technology budget, he said, "I want to see the responses first."

O'Keefe acknowledged he has been called "risk-averse" for announcing, on Jan. 16, that he would not permit another shuttle mission to service the Hubble. He also noted other "withering criticism" he had received for making that decision. "This isn't about risk aversion," he countered. "It's about the price of diligence -- diligence we failed to exercise before. But it is hardly withering. I've seen withering. Withering is the feeling you get when you are standing on the runway and realized that the shuttle that everyone is expecting isn't going to land."

Meanwhile, NASA officials want to plan for the rest of the Hubble's serviceable life, O'Keefe said. The telescope's current operational lifetime is expected to run through 2005, with diminished capacities through the end of 2007. "Time is of the essence," he said. "Let's get on with it and make some choices."

If NASA could succeed in using robotics to save the Hubble and extend its life, the process might be applicable to other missions, such as the search for extrasolar planets and evidence of life elsewhere in the galaxy.

The National Academy of Sciences has appointed a 20-member board to study possibilities for revitalizing Hubble. O'Keefe said although those results would be considered when they are presented, NASA was requesting proposals from all quarters because of the time constraints imposed by Hubble's dying power sources.

He said proposal submissions for robotics plans should be submitted by July 16.

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