News NASA: Hubble headed for 'deorbit only'

From cnn.com:

(SPACE.com) -- A major review last week of servicing the Hubble Space Telescope has led NASA officials to a "deorbit only" position.

That's an outcome from an intensive preliminary design review held last week at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

That appraisal involved volumes of technical data, with over 200 experts from NASA and aerospace industry contractor teams attending.

The assessment backs an earlier decision by the White House to scuttle the Hubble. A robotically-controlled liquid-fueled motor would eventually be docked to the telescope. Once ignited, the engine would push the huge observatory into a controlled nose-dive into a remote ocean spot.

Intensive work has been underway at Goddard to develop the tools, technology, and procedures for telerobotic servicing of Hubble. That NASA-contracted effort has been led by MD Robotics of Brampton, Ontario.

Rest of story is here.