A special committee studying alternatives for the Hubble Space Telescope urged NASA Tuesday not to abandon the possibility of a space shuttle repair mission.

The Committee on the Assessment of Options for Extending the Life of the Hubble Space Telescope, as it is formally known, wrote in an interim report to NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe that the agency commit to a servicing mission to the Hubble to upgrade its instruments and replace its aging batteries and gyroscopes, thus ensuring many more years of useful life. The Hubble, committee chair Louis J. Lanzerotti wrote, is arguably the most important telescope in history.

Although the Hubble most likely will have to be serviced -- if at all -- by a robotic mission, the committee said all key technical decision points for committing to a specific service scenario are at least a year in the future.

Therefore, the committee said, NASA should take no actions that would preclude a space shuttle servicing mission to the orbiting telescope.

Lanzerotti said at a news briefing the committee intends to file its final recommendations by later summer or fall.

O'Keefe has indicated on several occasions he would not be inclined to authorize a shuttle crew to service the Hubble, in the wake of the Columbia accident in February 2003.