Word: astronaut
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After more than 150 parachute jumps, a hike up New Hampshire's Mt. Washington on skis, three previous space flights and other experiences in free-fall, Dr. Jeffrey A. Hoffman, NASA astronaut and Harvard astrophysics Ph.D. (1971), was ready last week when he stepped into space to repair one of the world's most expensive telescopes...
...according to Hoffman's fellow graduate students, the future astronaut was never without some idea for an adventure in travel...
...never expected him to become an astronaut," Fazio says. "He never discussed...
...week's end the mission was going flawlessly. After closing the 6,700-mile gap between the two spacecraft, Endeavour caught up with Hubble on Saturday morning. As shuttle commander Richard Covey steered his spacecraft to within 35 ft. of the telescope, astronaut Claude Nicollier used a robot arm to grab the 43-ft.-long, 25,000-lb. device and lowered it into the shuttle's cargo bay, where some repairs will be done. "Houston, Endeavour has a firm handshake with Mr. Hubble's telescope," Covey told Mission Control. "It's quite a sight." The crew also found that...
...intricate -- the 600-lb., telephone booth-size compartment containing Hubble's corrective lenses has to fit into an opening with less than an inch to spare -- the entire mission has + been choreographed more precisely than a Balanchine ballet. Unlike last year's rescue of Intelsat-6, in which astronauts literally grabbed the satellite when the shuttle's robot arm couldn't grasp it, the Hubble repairs require more agility than physical strength. Patience and caution are also crucial to the mission's success. Says astronaut Kathryn Thornton, who will install the planetary camera: "If you all on the ground think...