Whole Object Name
Signed NASA Photograph of Jeffrey Hoffman
Collection
Space Memorabilia
Description
Jeffrey Hoffman became a NASA astronaut in 1979. He flew on five Space Shuttle missions, totalling over 1,211 hours in Space. His fourth flight, STS-61, was the first mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. The mission launched on 2 December 1993, with the aim of restoring the telescope’s visions with a new main camera and corrective optics package. This was one of the most complex missions in the history of the Space Shuttle, requiring five spacewalks. As NASA’s first Jewish male astronaut, Hoffman spun a dreidel for Hanukkah to a live audience during the mission.
Prior to his astronaut career, Hoffman conducted post-doctoral work at the University of Leicester. He worked on several x-ray astronomy payloads, including the medium-energy x-ray experiment on the European Space Agency's EXOSAT satellite. In 2008 he returned to the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Leicester as a visiting professor.
Object number
2019-18