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Our principal conclusion is that the options for achieving the HST-JWST transition can be prioritized as follows, with the most preferred option listed first.
1. Two additional Shuttle servicing missions, SM4 in about 2005 and SM5 in about 2010, in order to maximize the scientific productivity of the Hubble Space Telescope. The extended HST science program resulting from SM5 would only occur if the HST science was successful in a peer-reviewed competition with other new space astrophysics proposals.
2. One Shuttle servicing mission, SM4, before the end of 2006, which would include replacement of HST gyros and installing improved instruments. In this scenario, the HST could be de-orbited, after science operations are no longer possible, by a propulsion device installed on the HST during SM4 or by an autonomous robotic system.
3. If no Shuttle servicing missions are available, a robotic mission to install a propulsion module to bring down the HST in a controlled descent when science is no longer possible.
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