The Hubble Space Telescope is not included in the proposed 2006 Budget submitted today by the Bush Administration. Although NASA will see a 2.5 percent increase in its overall budget, it is not enough to sustain Hubble by making the necessary repairs to keep it in orbit.

Instead, $75 million will be spent on the process of bringing Hubble crashing back down to earth safely.

'Hubble is a spacecraft that is dying,' Comptroller Steve Isakowitz said before the budget was officially made public. 'We have decided that the risks associated with the Hubble servicing at this time don't merit going forward.'

One problem Hubble has faced is the suspension of the space shuttle program after the Columbia disaster. The shuttles were going to be used to help make repairs on the aging telescope but when the program was suspended, plans for repairs were halted along with it.

'We have no plans to pursue a Hubble servicing mission by use of the shuttle,' Isakowitz added.

The alternative, using a robotic arm to repair Hubble, has been deemed impractical and too expensive.

Some members of Congress may fight to repair Hubble when budget negotiations begin next month. Because the telescope has been so well received by the public, it has also been a favorite of many on Capitol Hill.

I would dearly love to save the telescope,' said Congressman Sherwood Boehlert, a New York Republican who chairs the House Science Committee. 'It has outperformed everyone's fondest hopes and has become a kind of mascot for science, maybe even for our planet. One can't help but root for it.'

But will it be enough to save Hubble? Or will the strongest telescope put into orbit come crashing down into the ocean next year?