Jeffrey Alan Hoffman, born November 2, 1944 in Brooklyn, New York, is a veteran of 5 space shuttle flights and is the first Jewish astronaut from the United States.
His first flight was aboard Discovery (STS-51-D) in April 1985, as mission specialist. Discovery landed at Kennedy Space Center but suffered major brake damage and blew out a tire so future shuttle flights had to land at Edwards Air Force Base until NASA could improve the brake assembly and make it safer.
His second mission was aboard Columbia (STS-35) in December 1990 also as mission specialist. He and fellow astronaut Sam Durrance conducted the first Space Classroom Program, designed to get children interested in math and science.
His third mission was on Atlantis (STS-46) in July-August 1992. He flew with the first Italian citizen in space, Franco Malerba.
His fourth flight was the first servicing mission to the Hubble Telescope, on Endeavour (STS-61) in December 1993. Launched 3 1/2 years previously, the Hubble Telescope had a "spherical abberation" that distorted images and rendered most of its data unuseable.
Hoffman's fifth and final flight was back on Columbia (STS-75) February-March 1996. He flew with two more Italian astronauts, Maurizio Cheli and Umberto Guidoni.
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