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. 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.
The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program name was Space Transportation System (STS). Five complete Space Shuttle orbiter vehicles were built and flown on a total of 135 missions from 1981 to 2011.
Space Shuttle Endeavour (Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-105) is a retired orbiter from NASA's Space Shuttle program and the fifth and final operational shuttle built. It embarked on its first mission, STS-49, in May 1992 and its 25th and final mission, STS-134, in May 2011. STS-134 was expected to be the final mission of the Space Shuttle program, but with the authorization of STS-135, Atlantis became the last shuttle to fly. The United States Congress approved the construction of Endeavour in 1987 to replace Challenger, which was lost in 1986. Structural spares built during the construction of Discovery and Atlantis were used in its assembly. NASA chose, on cost grounds, to build Endeavour from spares rather than refitting Enterprise.
Space Shuttle Details
Date of
Birth: Aug. 1, 1946
Age: 78
Date of
Birth: Nov. 14, 1956
Age: 68
Date of
Birth: Sept. 2, 1944
Age: 80
Date of
Birth: Aug. 17, 1952
Age: 72
Date of
Birth: May 20, 1951
Age: 73
Date of
Birth: Nov. 2, 1944
Age: 80
Date of
Birth: Aug. 19, 1935
Age: 89
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. NASA have many launch facilities but most are inactive. The most commonly used pad will be LC-39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
INFO WIKIThe Hubble Space Telescope recently garnered headlines for a software anomaly that caused the iconic observatory to enter safe mode as its control teams worked to successfully restore the telescope to operational status.
A batch of 22 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
Ku-band geostationary communication satellite for China Satcom at 110.5° East, replacing ChinaSat 10.
A batch of 23 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
A batch of 23 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system. First Starlink launch …
The first of five BlackSky Technology missions to deploy its new next-generation BlackSky Gen-3 satellites. The commercial constellation of Gen-3 sat…
A batch of 21 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
A batch of 21 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
Demonstration flight of the Long March 8A rocket with upgraded first stage and boosters engines, and a new larger liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen secon…
A batch of 23 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
Fourth batch of five satellites for the French Kinéis IoT constellation designed to operate with 25 nanosatellites of 30 kg each.