STS-61

STS-61
Musgrave being raised to the top of Hubble by Canadarm, as it sits in Endeavour's payload bay.
NamesSpace Transportation System-61
Mission typeFirst Hubble Space Telescope servicing
OperatorNASA
COSPAR ID1993-075A Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.22917
Mission duration10 days, 19 hours, 58 minutes, 33 seconds (achieved)
Distance travelled7,135,464 km (4,433,772 mi)
Orbits completed163
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftSpace Shuttle Endeavour
Launch mass113,541 kg (250,315 lb)
Landing mass94,972 kg (209,377 lb)
Payload mass8,011 kg (17,661 lb)
Crew
Crew size7
Members
Start of mission
Launch dateDecember 2, 1993, 09:27:00 UTC
RocketSpace Shuttle Endeavour
Launch siteKennedy Space Center, LC-39B
ContractorRockwell International
End of mission
Landing dateDecember 13, 1993, 05:25:33 UTC
Landing siteKennedy Space Center,
SLF Runway 33
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric orbit
RegimeLow Earth orbit
Perigee altitude291 km (181 mi)
Apogee altitude576 km (358 mi)
Inclination28.45°
Period93.30 minutes
Capture of Hubble Space Telescope
RMS captureDecember 4, 1993, 08:48 UTC
Berthing dateDecember 4, 1993, 09:26 UTC
RMS releaseDecember 9, 1993, 10:26 UTC

STS-61 mission patch

Standing: Covey, Hoffman, Akers
Seated: Bowersox, Thornton, Musgrave, Nicollier
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STS-60 (60) →

STS-61 was NASA's first Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission, and the fifth flight of the Space Shuttle Endeavour. The mission launched on December 2, 1993, from Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. The mission restored the spaceborne observatory's vision (marred by spherical aberration in its mirror) with the installation of a new main camera and a corrective optics package (COSTAR). This correction occurred more than three and a half years after the Hubble was launched aboard STS-31 in April 1990. The flight also brought instrument upgrades and new solar arrays to the telescope. With its very heavy workload, the STS-61 mission was one of the most complex in the Shuttle's history.

STS-61 lasted almost 11 days, and crew members made five spacewalks (extravehicular activities (EVAs)), an all-time record; even the re-positioning of Intelsat VI on STS-49 in May 1992 required only four. The flight plan allowed for two additional EVAs, which could have raised the total number to seven; the final two contingency EVAs were not made. In order to complete the mission without too much fatigue, the five EVAs were shared between two pairs of different astronauts alternating their shifts. During the flight, mission specialist Jeffrey A. Hoffman also spun a dreidel for the holiday of Hanukkah to a live audience watching via satellite.