sts-61

STS-61 was the first Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission, and the fifth flight of the Space Shuttle Endeavour. The mission launched on 2 December 1993 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission restored the spaceborne observatory's vision, marred by spherical aberration, with the installation of a new main camera and a corrective optics package. 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. It lasted almost 11 days, and crew members made five spacewalks, an all-time record. Even the retrieval 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 extravehicular working sessions were shared between two alternating shifts of two astronauts.

STS-61

The Hubble Space Telescope Flight Systems & Servicing Project is responsible for the integration, testing, calibration and maintenance of existing HST orbital replaceable components; the development of all flight support hardware required to carry out a servicing mission; the management and planning of the HST on orbit servicing program; and the design, development, and fabrication of second generation HST scientific instruments, flight hardware, and ground support equipment required to maintain the HST in the state necessary to satisfy all science objectives through it's 15-year mission.