Jeffrey Alan Hoffman
Jeffrey Alan Hoffman is an American astrophysicist, former NASA astronaut, and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He flew five shuttle missions and became one of the astronauts most closely associated with Hubble Space Telescope servicing.
- Born
- November 2, 1944
- Died
- N/A
- Birthplace
- Brooklyn, New York,United States
Flights
5
Spacewalks
4
EVA time
25 hours, 8 minutes
In space
50 days, 11 hours, 54 minutes
Bio
Hoffman studied astronomy and astrophysics before NASA selected him with Astronaut Group 8 in 1978. His scientific background made him a natural fit for Spacelab astronomy, telescope work, and payload operations in the shuttle era.
He flew STS-51-D, STS-35, STS-46, STS-61, and STS-75. STS-61 was especially important: Hoffman performed Hubble servicing during the mission that corrected the telescope's flawed optics and restored confidence in the observatory.
Hoffman also flew on Astro-1 and Tethered Satellite System missions, giving his record a strong science and technology theme. He accumulated more than fifty days in space and over twenty-five hours of EVA time.
After NASA, Hoffman returned to academia and helped train future engineers and space professionals.