Dr. Jeffrey A. Hoffman, born November 2, 1944, in Brooklyn, New York, is a former NASA astronaut, astrophysicist, and professor at MIT. Selected as an astronaut in 1978, he flew five Space Shuttle missions between 1985 and 1996, logging over 1,200 hours in space and performing the first contingency spacewalk and key repairs to the Hubble Space Telescope. A graduate of Amherst College, Harvard University, and Rice University, Hoffman’s early research focused on gamma ray and x-ray astronomy. He later served as NASA’s European Representative in Paris before joining MIT’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. His career is distinguished by numerous NASA medals, international honors, and contributions to advancing space science and exploration. Courtesy of NASA.