The telescope's gyroscopes and batteries are wearing out, and NASA engineers estimate a repair effort needs to reach the Hubble before the end of 2007 to forestall its operational failure. There is also the unnerving possibility that the telescope, which is the size of a school bus, could drop out of orbit and land on a city.

Hubble is far from NASA's only worry, however. The agency is struggling with the process of getting the space shuttle ready to fly again. Earlier this week, agency officials said the costs of resuming flights by the shuttle fleet -- which has remained grounded since the shuttle Columbia disaster, on Feb. 1, 2003 -- are as much as $900 million higher than initial estimates.

NASA disclosed its cost increases in a new report, Implementation Plan for Space Shuttle Return to Flight and Beyond. It described the space agency's attempts to prepare the shuttle for a flight to the International Space Station next March.

During a conference call with reporters, Michael Kostelnik, NASA's deputy associate administrator, said although the cost increases will begin to present difficulties in fiscal year 2005 -- which starts Oct. 1 -- the agency does not plan to seek extra money from Congress until FY 2006.

Whatever happens, that is an iffy proposition at best. Legislators seem in no mood to allocate more funds to NASA. They gave a strong indication of that position on July 20 -- the 35th anniversary of the first Apollo moon landing -- when the House subcommittee that oversees NASA's budget refused to fund President Bush's new space exploration plan.

President Bush had sought $16.2 billion -- an $866 million increase over the previous year -- for NASA in FY 2005. Much of the boost was targeted for the repairs to the space shuttle, with the rest earmarked for activities to develop the space plan, which involves developing a new generation of spacecraft intended to return humans to the moon by 2020 and eventually send human flights to Mars, the asteroid belt and elsewhere in the solar system.

The subcommittee slashed more than $1 billion from the NASA FY 2005 request. The resulting appropriation not only would eliminate the entire increase Bush had requested, but also reduces NASA's overall budget $229 million below the FY 2004 level.

The action is considered by close observers of the issue to be just an opening salvo. The president's space plan has strong supporters in Congress, including House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas. Also, as United Press International reported last month, President Bush himself might threaten to veto any legislation that attempts to eliminate funds for his space vision.

Nevertheless, the $900 million disclosure muddies the prospects much further. It is one thing to fight to ratchet up NASA's budget by nearly $1 billion for the new space plan. It is quite another to add hundreds of millions more at a time when no federal agency -- other than the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security -- are receiving budget increases.

The extra shuttle money will be critical in the decision to save Hubble.

NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe remains fundamentally opposed to sending a shuttle flight to rescue the telescope. In June, he spoke before the National Academy of Sciences committee that is studying options for saving the Hubble. He discussed the additional risks involved with sending a shuttle flight to the Hubble -- as opposed to rendezvous with the space station -- and said he never again wanted to be waiting on the tarmac at Kennedy Space Center for a shuttle that was not returning.

I've done that once and it was emblazoned in my memory like it was yesterday, O'Keefe told committee members.

That is why if NASA does decided to send a shuttle to the Hubble, it most likely will do so only if it has a second spacecraft standing by with a separate crew ready to jump into action if the first shuttle runs into trouble.

Such an approach figures to stretch NASA's budget even thinner. It would be one thing if Congress acquiesces on the extra money to refly the shuttle fleet -- as well as the start-up money for the space exploration plan. Then, there should be enough to fund the Hubble repair mission if O'Keefe gives his approval.

It is quite another thing to attempt such a complex mission without the extra money. In such circumstances, a backup shuttle and crew probably would be out of the question. That would leave only a robotic mission, something that even Hubble's staunchest supporters have admitted would be highly speculative within the timeframe available.

At this point, then, NASA's new cost figures for the shuttle represent a severe setback for any Hubble rescue plans.

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