Endeavour (STS-61) launched 1993

STS-61 crew

Front row (L-R): Ken Bowersox, Kathryn Thornton, Story Musgrave, Claude Nicollier

Back row (L-R): Richard Covey, Jeffrey Hoffman, Thomas Akers

STS-61 mission patch

Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-61), launched December 2, 1993, was the first Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission.  Its crew consisted of Commander Richard Covey, Pilot Ken Bowersox, Kathryn Thornton, Claude Nicollier (ESA), Jeffrey Hoffman, Story Musgrave, and Thomas Akers. The crew conducted 5 EVAs during the mission.  Musgrave and Hoffman conducted three EVAs for a total of around 22 hours.  Thornton and Akers performed two spacewalks for about 13 hours.  

They returned to Earth December 13, after spending almost 11 days in space. 

Discovery (STS-51-D) launched 1985

STS-51-D crew

Front row (L-R): Karol Bobko, Donald Williams, Rhea Seddon, Jeffrey Hoffman

Last row (L-R): David Griggs, Charles Walker, Edwin Garn

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-51-D), launched April 12, 1985, was the fourth flight of Discovery.  Its crew consisted of Commander Karol Bobko, Pilot Donald Williams, Rhea Seddon, David Griggs, Jeffrey Hoffman, Charles Walker, and Senator Edwin Garn of Utah.

Hoffman and Griggs conducted an EVA on April 16 for just over 3 hours.  Griggs also performed tricks with a yo-yo to see how "Toys in Space" reacted to microgravity.  He successfully comppleted the flying saucer and around-the-moon, but the sleeper trick did not work without normal gravity.

The crew returned to Earth April 19 and a tire blew out upon landing, causing extensive damage to the brakes.

Columbia (STS-35) launched 1990

STS-35 crew

Front row (L-R): Guy Gardner, Vance Brand, John Lounge

Back row (L-R): Robert Parker, Ronald Parise, Jeffrey Hoffman, Samuel Durrance

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-35), launched December 2, 1990, was devoted to astronomical observations.  Its crew consisted of Commander Vance Brand, Pilot Guy Gardner, Jeffrey Hoffman, John Lounge, Robert Parker, Samuel Durrance, and Ronald Parise.

They returned to Earth December 11.

Space Shuttle astronaut David Griggs born 1939

David Griggs, born September 7, 1939 in Portland, Oregon, went into space aboard Discovery (STS-51-D) as mission specialist in April 1985.  He and fellow astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman conducted an unscheduled EVA (the first in NASA history).

Griggs passed away in June 1989 when the vintage World War II-era training aircraft he was piloting crashed near Earle, Arkansas.

Columbia (STS-75) launched 1996

STS-75 crew

Seated (L-R): Scott Horowitz, Andrew Allen, Franklin Chang-Diaz

Standing (L-R): Maurizio Cheli, Umberto Guidoni, Jeffrey Hoffman, Claude Nicollier

STS-75 mission patch

Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-75), launched February 22, 1996, carried the Tethered Satellite System Reflight (TSS-1R) into orbit.  Its crew consisted of Commander Andrew Allen, Pilot Scott Horowitz, Jeffrey Hoffman, Maurizio Cheli (ESA), Claude Nicollier (ESA), Franklin Chang-Diaz, and Umberto Guidoni (Italian Space Agency).

The crew planned to deploy the tether to 20.7 km, but the tether broke when over 19 km were deployed.  The porous material, which made up the innermost core, contained trapped bubbles of air at atmospheric pressure.  In space, the air bubbles began to escape and changed the electrical conductivity of the tether, which essentially melted.

They returned to Earth March 9.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman!

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.

Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-46) launched 1992

Claude Nicolllier, Franklin  Chang-Diaz, Ranco Malerba

Space Shuttle Atlantis took off Juy 31, 1992, mission STS-46, carrying Claude Nicollier, the first Swiss astronaut, Franklin Ramon Chang-Diza, the first Costa Rican astronaut and Franco Malerba, the first Italian astronaut.

Commander Loren J. Shriver, Pilot Andrew M. Allen, Mission Specialist 2 Marsha S. Ivins and Mission Specialist 3 Jeffrey A.  Hoffman completed the crew.

The mission marked the 150th human spaceflight to reach orbit.