STS-61

STS-61 was NASA's first Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission and Space Shuttle Endeavour's fifth flight. The mission launched from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39B on December 2, 1993, with Richard O. Covey commanding, Kenneth D. Bowersox piloting, and Story Musgrave, Kathryn C. Thornton, Claude Nicollier, Jeffrey A. Hoffman, and Thomas D. Akers serving as mission specialists. After rendezvous, Nicollier used Endeavour's robotic arm to capture Hubble and berth it in the payload bay. Over five EVAs, the crew replaced failed gyroscope and electronics units, installed new solar arrays, added the Wide Field/Planetary Camera 2, installed COSTAR to compensate for Hubble's mirror flaw, and completed additional telescope servicing work. Endeavour redeployed Hubble and landed at Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility on December 13, 1993, after a mission lasting nearly eleven days.