Hubble Space Telescope rescue costly

Trying to save the Hubble Space Telescope with a robot would cost US$2 billion ($2.8 billion), with just a 50-50 chance of success, an aerospace research group has told Nasa.

That and another potentially negative report from the National Academy of Sciences, may spell doom for the ageing Hubble, whose fans have lobbied heavily to get it repaired to prolong its life and continue its stream of pictures from space.

Nasa will decide next northern summer whether to proceed with a repair attempt.